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The Entombment of Christ

1700–1701
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 550
The Entombment is one of the two “jewel-like sculptures” Luisa Roldán gave to the newly installed King Philip V of Spain in 1701, petitioning him to appoint her sculptor to the royal court. In the previous decade she had pioneered a genre of sculpture—powerfully conceived and exquisitely modelled and painted figural groups, made on a deliberately intimate scale—of which this is perhaps the finest. The emotive expressions of the six figures surrounding the body of Christ as he is laid to rest run the gamut from angry disbelief and empty grief, to tender love and sympathy. The Entombment may have been placed in a convent or monastery affiliated with the royal family, or in the family’s private rooms or chapels. In whichever context, it would have inspired meditative devotion, encouraging the viewer to identify with the witnesses to Christ’s Passion.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Entombment of Christ
  • Artist: Luisa Roldán, called La Roldana (Spanish, Seville 1652–1706 Madrid)
  • Date: 1700–1701
  • Culture: Spanish, Madrid
  • Medium: Polychrome terracotta
  • Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 19 1/2 × 26 × 17 in. (49.5 × 66 × 43.2 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, several members of The Chairman's Council Gifts, Walter and Leonore Annenberg Acquisitions Endowment Fund, Álvaro Saieh Bendeck and Alejandro Santo Domingo Gifts, and Mary Trumbull Adams Fund; Edward J. Gallagher Jr. Bequest, in memory of his father, Edward Joseph Gallagher, his mother, Ann Hay Gallagher, and his son, Edward Joseph Gallagher III; The Bernard and Audrey Aronson Charitable Trust Gift, in memory of her beloved husband, Bernard Aronson; Anonymous Gift and Louis V. Bell Fund, 2016
  • Object Number: 2016.482
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

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Angels mourning over Christ after the flagellation, Luisa Roldán, called La Roldana Spanish, Terracotta, polychromed and gilt, Portuguese
Angels mourning over Christ after the flagellation
Luisa Roldán, called La Roldana
early 18th century
Harlequin, Real Fabrica de Buen Retiro Spanish, Soft-paste porcelain, Spanish, Madrid
Harlequin
Real Fabrica de Buen Retiro
ca. 1760–70
Couple with Child, Real Fabrica de Buen Retiro Spanish, Soft-paste porcelain, Spanish, Madrid (Buen Retiro)
Couple with Child
Real Fabrica de Buen Retiro
ca. 1760–70
Fidelity, the Mother of Constant Love, Augustin Pajou French, Terracotta, French, Paris
Fidelity, the Mother of Constant Love
Augustin Pajou
1799
Saint John the Baptist, Juan Martínez Montañés Spanish, Polychromed wood with gilding, Spanish, Seville
Saint John the Baptist
Juan Martínez Montañés
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