Entombment; Juan de JUNI; 1554; polychrome wood; National Museum of Religious Carvings, Valladolid, Spain
The entombment
To understand
WHAT CAN BE SEEN I THIS PICTURE
The corpse of Jesus is laid down by women and men into his tomb.
The tomb is represented as an open sarcophagus, contrary to the texts which mentions a vault dug out in the rock. The body, wrapped in a white shroud, is put into the sarcophagus or placed on a sort of slab that is the lid.
6 persons are around dead Christ and take part to the entombment.
The Virgin Mary is in tears; the apostle John supports her
On the left, a woman holds the crown of thorns while, on the right, Mary Magdalene carries a vase.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus lay down the corpse in its shroud; Joseph holds it on the side of his head and Nicodemus on the side of his feet.
This position can be explained by their relative social importance; the former is a prominent member of the Sanhedrin Council who has donated the tomb, the latter is but a petty member who has brought some unguents.
... AND IN OTHER IMAGES
The group of women is often better structured:
Mary, the mother of Jesus, presides over the scene; she is placed in the centre or else close to Jesus’ head; her suffering has grown over the centuries and sometimes becomes theatrical.
Two other women mentioned in the Gospels bring some perfumes for the embalment; they are Salome, Zebedee’s wife and the mother of the apostles James the Major and John, and Mary, the mother of James the Minor. They are the women that the legend had made into the Virgin Mary’s half-sisters.
Mary Magdalene cries while holding a vase of perfume; she is in the centre if the Virgin is placed close to Jesus’ head, or she is at his feet if the Virgin is in the centre of the scene.
The entombment is often composed with several characters carved life-size; which creates a sort of stage performance.
