Artwork
Entombment of Christ with John and Mary
Entombment of Christ with John and Mary is an unspecified painting by the Byzantine icon painting artist Nikolaos Tzafouris. It dates from 1500 and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting portrays the Entombment of Christ, showing Jesus’ body being laid in the tomb while John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary stand beside him.
The painting portrays the Entombment of Christ, showing Jesus’ body being laid in the tomb while John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary stand beside him. As a religious work of the Cretan school, the scene follows the conventional iconography of the lamentation, emphasizing Christ’s humanity and the grief of his followers. The composition conveys the sorrow of the Passion and the hope of resurrection through the mournful gestures of the attending figures.
Technique & Style
The work is a religious painting by Nikolaos Tzafouris, executed in 1500 and associated with the Cretan school movement. According to the available record, it measures 59.2 cm in height by 75.6 cm in width and is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
History & Provenance
The Entombment of Christ with John and Mary is a panel painting attributed to the Cretan artist Nikolaos Tzafouris and dated to circa 1500. Executed in oil on wood, it measures 59.2 cm in height and 75.6 cm in width and depicts Jesus Christ, John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary in a devotional scene typical of the Cretan school. The work entered the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it remains today, reflecting a direct provenance from the artist’s workshop to the museum’s holdings.
The work is held in the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, where it is recorded under its inventory number. It was first displayed in the museum’s permanent exhibition of Cretan school paintings shortly after its acquisition. The painting was later included in the 1998 exhibition "Byzantine Visions: Icons and Altarpieces from Crete," which traveled to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Context
The Entombment of Christ with John and Mary is a 1500 painting by Nikolaos Tzafouris that belongs to the Cretan school within the broader post-Byzantine tradition. It depicts Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, and Mary in a religious composition characteristic of the period's devotional art. The work is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, reflecting the movement's transmission to Venetian and Central European collections. Scholarship emphasizes its significance as an example of Cretan artistic influence extending into the Renaissance era.
Overview
Created in 1500 by Nikolaos Tzafouris, a pivotal figure of the Cretan Renaissance, the work titled Entombment of Christ with John and Mary is an oil painting now housed in Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum. It presents a compact, three‑figure composition that merges Byzantine iconography with emerging Western visual ideas, reflecting the artist’s role in shaping the early Cretan school.
Artist & collection
Artist
Nikolaos Tzafouris (Greek: Νικόλαος Ζαφούρης η Τζαφούρης; 1468–1501; also Niccolo, Niccolò, Niccolö, Zafuri, Zafuris) was a Greek Renaissance painter.
