The Entombment, over a Sketch of an Executioner, Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1640 - c. 1641
pen and brown ink; paper correction at lower left; framing line in brown ink, h 156mm × w 201mm Catalogue entry
This expressive drawing shows how Rembrandt translated his observations of human suffering into the biblical stories he depicted. Christ is truly dead: his body is stiff, and his hair hangs down. The men who carry the cloth with the corpse display visible exertion. Rembrandt initially used this sheet for a sketch of an executioner whose head and arms can still be discerned at the left of the curtain.
