The Entombment of Christ (Lotto)

Painting by Lorenzo Lotto

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The Entombment of Christ

Artist| Lorenzo Lotto
Year| 1513–1516
Medium| Oil on panel
Dimensions| 51 cm × 97 cm (20 in × 38 in)
Location| Accademia Carrara, Bergamo

The Entombment of Christ is a 1513–1516 oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Lorenzo Lotto, now in the Accademia Carrara in Bergamo.[1] It originally formed the central predella panel (one of three) to the artist's Martinengo Altarpiece at the church of Santi Bartolomeo e Stefano.

## History

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The Entombment of Christ was commissioned by Alessandro Martinengo Colleoni for the Dominicans in the church of Santo Stefano. The other predella paintings were Saint Dominic Reviving Napoleone Orsini [it] and The Stoning of Saint Stephen [it], with The Entombment of Christ placed between them.

When the church and its monastery were destroyed to build the Venetian walls of Bergamo [it] in 1561, the altarpiece was moved into the new church of Santi Bartolomeo e Stefano, but all three predellas were removed and moved elsewhere.[2] The three predella panels were stolen in 1650, returned, and then moved to the church's sacristy. In 1749, however, the three panels were split up and sold to different buyers, ending their shared history.[3] Finally, in 193, The Entombment was sold to the Accademia Carrara, where it is today.[4]

## Description

[edit]

In The Entombment, Lotto depicts a dramatic scene with details of devotion. Christ, removed from his cross, is placed into a tomb where, in the foreground, the instruments of his martyrdom are displayed. Placed in shadow, however, he does not occupy the center of the scene.

Instead, at center, a man seen from behind is carrying Christ's lifeless body while standing with one foot in the tomb. (A composition similar to Caravaggio's Entombment.) The man is wearing an orange vest bound at the waist by a white sash. Under the vest is a white shirt, and he wears a large turban. At the foot of the tomb, another man is dropping the sheet under the body, with difficulty.[5] He wears a military uniform covered by a blue mantle, also bound at the waist, and leather sandels.

Also near the center, Mary is fainting from grief and supported by a woman behind her. Mary's blue mantle covers her face and lies over her red dress. She is holding the hand of Christ, and both are supported by another woman, who directs her gaze towards Mary. Joseph of Arimathea is also lifting the corpse, holding it by the torso, and placing it in the tomb. The daylight falling on him creates shadows around him. In the foreground and at right, Mary Magdalene, hooded, also holds the abandoned hand of Christ. Her clothes are brightly colored: under her red cape, she wears a yellow corset and a shirt with white puffed sleeves.

The Entombment, and the other predella paintings, are painted to reflect the Martinengo Altarpiece. The brown carpet at the foreground of the altarpiece mirrors the reddish-brown tints of the hilly landscape of The Entombment. The three paintings also reflect Lotto's encounter with the art of Raphael and German art, although they still correspond to his personal artistic style overall.

## Bibliography (in Italian)

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* Francesca Cortesi Bosco, Il coro intarsiato di Lotto e Capoferri, edizioni Amilcare Pizzi, 1987, ISBN 88-366-0212-6.
* Andreina Franco Loiri Locatelli, La Rivista di Bergamo, 1998, p. 61–63.
* Carlo Pirovano, Lotto, Milano, Electa, 2002, ISBN 88-435-7550-3.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "deposizione di Cristo nel sepolcro Lotto Lorenzo 58AC00071 |". www.lacarrara.it. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
2. ^ "Accademia Carrara | deposizione di Cristo Domenico resuscita Napoleone Orsini". Accademia Carrara (in Italian). Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
3. ^ "Deposizione di Cristo nel sepolcro, Lotto Lorenzo". Lombardia Beni Culturali (in Italian). Retrieved 3 February 2021.
4. ^ "Deposizione di Cristo nel sepolcro, Lotto Lorenzo 58AC00071". Accademia Carrara (in Italian). Retrieved 3 February 2021.
5. ^ Loiri Locatelli, Andreina Franco (1998). "Le opere di Lorenzo Lotto nelle chiese della città : i contesti d'origine". La Rivista di Bergamo (in Italian): 133.

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Lorenzo Lotto

Paintings|

| Religious|

* Madonna and Child with St Peter Martyr and a Donor (1503)
* Madonna and Child with Saints (c. 1505)
* Asolo Altarpiece (1506)
* Saint Jerome in Penitence (Paris) (c. 1506)
* Santa Cristina al Tiverone Altarpiece (c. 1504–1506)
* Adoration of the Christ Child (Kraków) (1508)
* Madonna with Child between Sts. Flavian and Onuphrius (1508)
* Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (1506–1508)
* Recanati Polyptych (1506–1508)
* Saint Jerome in Penitence (Rome) (c. 1509)
* Transfiguration (1510–1512)
* Saint Jerome in Penitence (Sibiu) (c. 1513–1514)
* Saint Jerome in Penitence (Allentown) (1515)
* The Entombment of Christ (1513–1516)
* Martinengo Altarpiece (1513–1516)
* Susanna and the Elders (1517)
* Madonna and Child with Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian (c. 1518)
* Holy Trinity (c. 1519–1520)
* Christ Taking Leave of his Mother (1521)
* Santo Spirito Altarpiece (1521)
* Ponteranica Altarpiece (1522)
* Lament over the Dead Christ (c. 1522)
* Adoration of the Christ Child (Washington) (1523)
* Mystical Marriage of St Catherine of Alexandria with Niccoló Bonghi (1523)
* Madonna and Child with Saint Jerome and Saint Nicholas of Tolentino (1523–1524)
* Mystical Marriage of St Catherine and Saints (1524)
* Life of the Virgin (1525)
* Christ Carrying the Cross (1526)
* Madonna and Child with Saint Catherine and Saint James (c. 1527)
* Saint Nicholas in Glory (1527–1529)
* Saint Lucy Before the Judge (1532)
* Holy Family with Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1533)
* Crucifixion with Pietà (c. 1529–1534)
* Holy Family with St Jerome and St Anne (1534)
* Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1534)
* Recanati Annunciation (c. 1534)
* Madonna and Child with Two Donors (c. 1533–1535)
* Holy Family with the Family of St John the Baptist (c. 1536)
* Madonna of the Rosary (1539)
* Altarpiece of the Halberd (c. 1539)
* St Antoninus Giving Alms (c. 1540–1542)
* Pietà (1538–1545)
* San Giacomo dell'Orio Altarpiece (1546)
* Presentation in the Temple (c. 1552–1556)

|

Secular|

* Allegory of Virtue and Vice (1505)
* Portrait of Bishop Bernardo de' Rossi (1505)
* Allegory of Chastity (c. 1505)
* Portrait of a Young Man (c. 1506)
* Portrait of a Young Man with a Lamp (c. 1506)
* Portrait of Giovanni Agostino della Torre and his son Niccolò (1515)
* Portrait of Giovanni della Volta with his Wife and Children (1515)
* Portrait of Lucina Brembati (c. 1518)
* Portrait of Marsilio Cassotti and His Bride Faustina (1523)
* Portrait of a Gentleman with a Lion Paw (c. 1524–1525)
* Portrait of a Young Man (Gemäldegalerie) (c. 1526)
* Portrait of a Young Man with a Book (c. 1526)
* Portrait of Andrea Odoni (1527)
* Portrait of a Young Man (Accademia) (c. 1530)
* Triumph of Chastity (c. 1530)
* Triple Portrait of a Goldsmith (c. 1530)
* Venus and Cupid (c. 1530)
* Portrait of a Woman Inspired by Lucretia (c. 1533)
* Portrait of a Gentleman (c. 1535)
* Portrait of an Old Man with Gloves (c. 1543)
* Portrait of a Thirty-Seven-Year-Old Gentleman (c. 1543)
* Portrait of Febo da Brescia (1543–1544)
* Portrait of Laura da Pola (1543–1544)
* Portrait of a Man (c. 1545)
* Portrait of Brother Gregorio Belo of Vicenza (1547)

Chapels|

* Suardi Chapel (1524)

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