The Entombment

Peter Paul Rubens depicted the moment after the Crucifixion and before the Resurrection, when Christ is placed into the tomb supported by those closest to him in life: John the Evangelist, in a brilliant red robe, bears the weight of the body, Mary Magdalene cries in the background, and the Virgin, cradling her son’s head, looks heavenward for divine intercession. Painted about 1612, the picture was meant to make the viewer’s religious experience personal and to encourage the faithful to imagine themselves present at the burial. The painting is held in the J. Paul Getty Museum.