The Passion: The Entombment

c. 1480

The Passion: The Entombment, c. 1480. Martin Schongauer (German, c.1450–1491). Engraving; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Ralph King 1925.27 Martin Schongauer's series of the Passion of Christ was his largest set of engravings, made around 1480, and extensively copied across Europe. It consists of twelve prints detailing the suffering of Christ in the last days of his life. Schongauer's version focuses on crowded scenes, grotesque physiognomies of Christ's tormentors, and great pathos in the compositions. Here, the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Evangelist are shown with their back and side to the viewer. Their attention is focused on Christ's body, which is lowered into a sarcophagus by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Mourning women witness the entombment. Martin Schongauer creates a sophisticated visual connection between this scene and that of the Crucifixion by including an empty cross on a hill in the distance.