The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

The Entombment

The Entombment

c. 1596
Location: not on view

Description

By the end of the 1500s, Michelangelo’s treatment of the nude male had permeated artistic practice. Some artists (today called Mannerists) began to stray from the master’s grounding in human anatomy, emphasizing instead the expressive potential that Michelangelo brought to bear on the human form. To make an emotional impact, Giovanni de’ Vecchi created fluid figures with exaggerated proportions, such as the central figure of Christ that appears here. De’ Vecchi used pen and purplish watercolor to render the forms of the dead Christ surrounded by Saint John the Apostle, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, the grief-stricken Virgin Mary, Saint Mary Magdalene (at Christ’s feet), and their companions, who adoringly convey his body to the tomb in the upper left. This drawing was preparatory for an altarpiece for the church of Santa Prassede in Rome.
  • P. Tosini, "Rivedendo Giovanni de' Vecchi," in Storia dell'arte, 82, 1994, p. 323, note 89
    A. Pinelli, "Pittura e Controriforma, 'Convenienza' e miticismo in Giovanni de' Vecchi," in Associazione di ricerca e documentazione per la Storia dell'arte. Ricerche di storia dell'arte. Rome: Bulzoni editore, VI, 1977, p. 58, cat. no. 5, fig. 21 58
    Knorn-Ezernieks, Nicola. Giovanni de' Vecchi: seine Stellung in der römischen Malerei um 1600 (Hildesheim-Zurich-New York, 2013., pp. 247, 330-32, cat. no. 63, illustrated 247, 330-32
    Peters, Emily J. and Wehn, James. “Acquisition Highlights: Drawings.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 58. no. 2 (March/April 2018): 12-13. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 12.
    Navarrete Prieto, Benito, and Gonzalo Redín Michaus. Disegni spagnoli e italiani del Cinquecento della Biblioteca Nacional de España, Roma : De Luca editori d'arte, 2020, 228. Reproduced: p. 228, fig. 58.1
  • Recent Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 17-June 7, 2018).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art (03/17/2018-06/06/2018): "Recent Acquisitions 2014-2017"
  • {{cite web|title=The Entombment|url=false|author=Giovanni de' Vecchi|year=c. 1596|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2017.5