The Entombment, over a Sketch of an Executioner

The Entombment, over a Sketch of an Executioner

RP-T-1930-28(R)

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.

Schatborn 19

draughtsman: Rembrandt van Rijn, Amsterdam

c. 1640 - c. 1641

pen en bruine inkt; papiercorrectie linksonder; kaderlijnen in bruine inkt

height 156 mm x width 201 mm

Gift of C. Hofstede de Groot, The Hague

gift 1906

Public domain

...; sale, Dirk Vis Blokhuyzen (1799-1869, Rotterdam), Rotterdam (D.A. Lamme), 23 (28) October 1871 sqq., no. 500 (`Mise au tombeau. A la plume´), fl. 11, to the dealer S. Lamme, Rotterdam, for Dr August Sträter (1810-97), Aachen (L. 787);{Copy RKD.} his sale, Stuttgart (H.G. Gutekunst), 10 (14) May 1898 sqq., no. 1176 (`Die Grablegung Christi. Geniale Sepiaskizze. Auf der Rückzeite eine Studie zur Enthaubtung Johannis des Taüfers´), 80 DM, to Paul Mathey (1844-1929), Paris;{Copy RKD.} ...; purchased from the dealer P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, by Dr Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (1863-1930), The Hague, after 1900;{Hofstede de Groot notes, KB.} by whom donated to the museum, 1906, but kept in usufruct; transferred to the museum (L. 2228), 1930

Schatborn 19

To refer to this object, please use the following persistent URL:

https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200117724