Entombment
Panel
ca. 1550 (made)
ca. 1550 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This panel depicts ‘The Entombment of Christ'. After Christ had been taken down from the Cross, his body was prepared and laid in a tomb. Here St John the Evangelist supports the Virgin Mary while Mary Magdalene kneels before the tomb. The two figures in coloured garments holding the body are probably Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy and devout Jew who obtained permission to take Jesus’ body and prepare it for burial. According to the Gospel of St John, Nicodemus helped him.
In the middle of the period 1500-1600, when this panel was made, new techniques for producing decorated glass were introduced. Glassmakers used paints known as 'enamels' to paint directly onto the glass, similar to painting onto a canvas. The colours were produced by adding metallic oxides to a ground glass (frit) mixture and the resulting colour range included the delicate pinks, reds and purples shown here.
In the middle of the period 1500-1600, when this panel was made, new techniques for producing decorated glass were introduced. Glassmakers used paints known as 'enamels' to paint directly onto the glass, similar to painting onto a canvas. The colours were produced by adding metallic oxides to a ground glass (frit) mixture and the resulting colour range included the delicate pinks, reds and purples shown here.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Entombment (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Stained glass |
| Brief description | Stained Glass panel depicting The Entombment, German, ca.1550 |
| Physical description | Stained glass panel, in dark brown, silver-yellow, blue and green enamel, and needle point, depicting The Entombment. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Production | Based on one of the series of woodcuts of the Passion by Albrecht Durer. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This panel depicts ‘The Entombment of Christ'. After Christ had been taken down from the Cross, his body was prepared and laid in a tomb. Here St John the Evangelist supports the Virgin Mary while Mary Magdalene kneels before the tomb. The two figures in coloured garments holding the body are probably Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy and devout Jew who obtained permission to take Jesus’ body and prepare it for burial. According to the Gospel of St John, Nicodemus helped him. In the middle of the period 1500-1600, when this panel was made, new techniques for producing decorated glass were introduced. Glassmakers used paints known as 'enamels' to paint directly onto the glass, similar to painting onto a canvas. The colours were produced by adding metallic oxides to a ground glass (frit) mixture and the resulting colour range included the delicate pinks, reds and purples shown here. |
| Associated objects | |
| Bibliographic reference | Foister, Susan, Art of Light: German Renaissance Stained Glass(London: National Gallery Company, 2007), 32 p., ill., ISBN 978 185709 348 3. p.15. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 540-1907 |
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| Record created | May 8, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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