The Entombment

After his training in Antwerp, Rubens worked in Italy. In Rome he studied Caravaggio’s controversial works, including the large altarpiece, The Entombment. Rubens later paid homage to it. Close examination shows he intended to create a faithful copy, but as work progressed he adapted and made it his own. As opposed to Caravaggio’s static theatricality, Rubens emphasized the group’s unity and their shared task in burying Christ, while preserving the almost physical presence of Christ’s inert body from the original.