Artwork
Entombment
Entombment is a tempera painting by the Early Renaissance artist Unknown. It dates from 1500 and is held in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.
About this work
Overview
The work, titled Entombment, is executed in tempera on panel. It portrays a lifeless figure swathed in a white shroud, positioned on a stone slab. Six mourners surround the body: a youthful figure in red, three veiled women, and two bearded older men. A modest landscape with a town and a hilltop cross forms the background.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure appears to be a deceased individual, its hands slightly raised and a subtle halo of light encircling the head, suggesting sanctity or divine presence. The surrounding mourners, differentiated by age, gender, and attire, convey a communal act of burial rites, emphasizing themes of loss and reverence.
Technique & Style
Created with tempera, the painting employs egg‑yolk binder mixed with pigment, yielding a matte finish and fine detail. The palette is largely muted, allowing the red garment of the young man to draw attention. Delicate modeling of the shrouded body and the faint illumination around the head demonstrate the medium’s capacity for precise, layered coloration.
Context
Tempera was the dominant medium for panel painting before the advent of oil and tube paints, valued for its quick drying time and durability. The inclusion of a distant town and a cross on a hill situates the scene within a recognizable, perhaps local, landscape, linking the ritual of entombment to a broader community setting.
Artist & collection
Domestic Scene
Giacomo and Cardinal Marco, investing Andrea, Abbot of San Zeno, with his Benefice
The Nymph of Fontainebleau
Portrait of a Woman
Madonna and Child with Saints in the Enclosed Garden
Venus and Minerva
Family Group of Four on Sofa
Wall painting from Room H of the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale
