The Entombment

Antony Dyck

Summary

A reproduction produced by the Vasari Society of a drawing by Antony van Dyck. It shows the figure of Christ being taken down from the cross, being held by a group of people within a sheet of fabric. There are five figures arranged around the body: two men on the left facing towards the right and holding onto the edges of the sheet, another man behind the body facing towards the left, and two women to the right of the body facing towards the left. The woman at the front is wearing a veil, and the woman behind her has her left arm around the first woman's shoulders. The body of Christ is held up at the shoulders, which are turned to face forwards, and his feet reach out of the sheet behind the men on the left. In the left background is a dark area, which is probably thick woodland. Text in the accompanying booklet produced by the Vasari Society: "No. 19 ANTONY VAN DYCK (b. 1599; d. 1641) THE ENTOMBMENT Collection of the Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth. From the Collection of N. A. Flinck. Pen and sepia, sepia wash and water-colour. 25.6 x 21.8 cm. (10 1/8 x 8 1/2 in.). This splendid composition is impressive, even in monochrome, but the darkest accents of the pen-line lose much of their effect, and no attempt has been made to reproduce the subtle washes of water-colour that add much to the beauty of the original. A pale, bluish green is used on the Virgin's mantle and on the sky; a very pale pink on the clothes of the foremost figure on the left and on the face and hand of St. John; a strong brick-red on the face, neck and arm of the disciple who bends forward over the head of Christ; while slight touches of white occur here and there. On the back of the sheet are a very old inventory reference, 'No. 29', and part of a sepia sketch for another composition of the Entombment, containing the Virgin in profile to the right, St. John with his arm thrown round her, a third head near that of St. John, while, lower down, Joseph of Arimathea bends over the drapery which covers Christ's feet. The drawing does not form part of the album which contains the bulk of drawings by Rubens, Van Dyck and Rembrandt at Chatsworth, but has recently been detatched from another album containing drawings from the Italian School. It has suffered from creasing, as the reproduction shows, having been folded again and again. The Chatsworth drawing does not resemble any of the pictures of this subject painted by Van Dyck, but has some affinity, as regards the shape, sentiment and landscape setting, with the painting of an allied subject, the Lamentation for Christ at Antwerp (Klassiker der Kunst, Abb. 94). C. D."