Dirk Bouts, 'The Entombment', probably 1450s
About the work
Overview
Christ’s body, wrapped in a white shroud, is being placed in a tomb by his grief-stricken family and followers. His mother Mary, clasping his wrist, seems on the edge of collapse; John the Evangelist holds her up. Behind them are Mary’s sisters, one wiping tears from her eyes, the other holding her veil to her mouth. Mary Magdalene supports Christ’s legs and gazes sadly at his face. This is the only surviving image of the Entombment by Bouts, and is a quiet expression of intense emotion.
It is a rare survivor of a once common type, a picture painted on cloth rather than wooden panels. Made in large numbers in the Netherlands in the fifteenth century, few exist today. This one is in remarkably good condition, although the colours would originally have been rather brighter.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Entombment
- Artist
- Dirk Bouts
- Artist dates
- 1400? - 1475
- Date made
- probably 1450s
- Medium and support
- glue tempera on canvas
- Dimensions
- 87.5 × 73.6 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1860
- Inventory number
- NG664
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 16th-century Italian Frame
Provenance
Eastlake noted in 1858 that NG 664 and three companion paintings ‘originally in the possession of the Foscari family, found their way to Vienna, where Guizzardi, envoy from Milan, purchased them early in the present century’. ‘Guizzardi’ was Diego Guicciardi (1756–1837), who in 1814 was said to have been brought up in Vienna and who himself stated in 1816 that he had been on five occasions Valtelline envoy to the court of Vienna. His missions were in 1786, 1787, 1791, 1793 and from September 1814 to April 1815. Guicciardi settled in Milan and died there. Eastlake saw the Entombment in Milan in 1858 and 1860; it was purchased in 1860 from representatives of the Guicciardi family and its safe arrival from Milan was reported to the Trustees on 21 January 1861.
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Lorne Campbell, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Schools’, London 1998; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1819P. Litta, Famiglie celebri di talia, Milan 1819
-
1861R.N. Wornum, Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery, London 1861
-
1872Guida all'esposizione d'arte antica nel Palazzo di Brera, Milan 1872
-
1872J.A. Crowe and G.B. Cavalcaselle, The Early Flemish Painters: Notices of their Lives and Works, 2nd edn, London 1872
-
1882A. Pinchart, 'Quelques artistes et quelques artisans de Tournai des XIVème, XVème et XVIème siècles', Bulletin de l'Académie Royale de Belgique, ser. 3, IV, 1882, pp. 559-615
-
1887W.M. Conway, Early Flemish Artists and Their Predecessors on the Lower Rhine, London 1887
-
1888E.T. Cook, A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery Including, by Special Permission, Notes Collected from the Works of Mr. Ruskin, London 1888
-
1911National Gallery, An Abridged Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery, London 1911
-
1930T. Cox, The National Gallery: A Room to Room Guide, London 1930
-
1932L. Baldass, 'Die Entwicklung des Dirk Bouts', Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, VI, 1932, pp. 77-114
-
1945Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: Early Netherlandish School, London 1945
-
1947Palazzo Strozzi, Mostra d'arte fiamminga e olandese dei secoli XV e XVI (exh. cat. Palazzo Strozzi, May - October 1947), Florence 1947
-
1953M. Davies, The National Gallery, London, Les Primitifs flamands. I, Corpus de la peinture des anciens Pay-Bas méridionaux au quinzième siècle 3, 2 vols, Antwerp 1953
-
1953E. Panofsky, Early Netherlandish Painting: Its Origins and Character, Cambridge 1953
-
1955Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: Early Netherlandish School, 2nd edn (revised), London 1955
-
1957F. Baudouin and K.G. Boon, Dieric Bouts (exh. cat. Palais des Beaux-Arts, 1957; Het Prinzenhof, 1958), Brussels 1957
-
1958F. Baudouin, 'Kanttekeningen bij de catalogus van de Dieric Bouts-tentoon-stelling', Bulletin des Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, VII, 1958
-
1958K.G. Boon, 'Bouts, Justus of Ghent and Berruguete', The Burlington Magazine, C, 1958, pp. 8-15
-
1964K. Arndt, 'Zum Werke des Hugo van der Goes', Münchner Jahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst, XV/3, 1964, pp. 63-98
-
1967M.J. Friedländer, Early Netherlandish Painting, eds N. Veronée-Verhaegen and H. Pauwels, trans. H. Norden, 14 vols, Leiden 1967
-
1975J.M. Collier, Linear Perspective in Flemish Painting and the Art of Petrus Christus and Dieric Bouts, Phd Thesis, Michigan University 1975
-
1975C. Gould and A. Smith, The Rival of Nature: Renaissance Painting in its Context, (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 10 June - 28 Sept 1975), London 1975
-
1978D. Robertson, Sir Charles Eastlake and the Victorian Art World, Princeton 1978
-
1978L. Masschelein-Kleiner et al., 'Examen et traitement d'une détrempe sur toile attribuée à Thierry Bouts: La Crucifixion de Bruxelles', Bulletin de l'Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique, XVII, 1978, pp. 5-21
-
1986D. Bomford, A. Roy and A. Smith, 'The Techniques of Dieric Bouts: Two Paintings Contrasted', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, X, 1986, pp. 39-57
-
1987Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Early Netherlandish School, 3rd edn, London 1987
-
1987A.P. Tofani, Gabinetto disegni e stampe degli Uffizi. Inventario. Disegni esposti, Florence 1987
-
1987D. Wolftahl, 'The Technique of Early Netherlandish Canvases', in H. Verougstraete-Marcq and R. van Schoute (eds), Le dessin sous-jacent dans le peinture: Colloque VI, 12-14 Septembre 1985: Infrarouge et autres techniques d'examen, Louvain 1987, pp. 81-91
-
1988R. Koch, 'The Getty "Annunciation" by Dieric Bouts', The Burlington Magazine, CXXX, 1988, pp. 509-16
-
1988M. Leonard et al., 'Dieric Bouts' "Annunciation", Materials and Techniques: A Summary', The Burlington Magazine, CXXX, 1988, pp. 517-22
-
1989R. Goffen, Giovanni Bellini, New Haven 1989
-
1989H. Verougstraete-Marcq and R. van Schoute, Cadres et supports dans la peinture flamands aux 15e et 16e siècles, Heure-le-Romain 1989
-
1989D. Wolftahl, The Beginnings of Netherlandish Canvas Painting; 1400-1530, Cambridge 1989
-
1991J. Dunkerton et al., Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, New Haven 1991
-
1991A. Tarica, 7 millions de dollars pour un faux, Saint-Amand-Montroud 1991
-
1994H. Belting and C. Kruse, Die Erfindung des Gemäldes: Das erste Jahrhundert der niederländischen Malerei, Munich 1994
-
1994E. Langmuir, The National Gallery Companion Guide, London 1994
-
1995B. Ridderbos, Om iets te weten van de oude meesters: De Vlaamse primitieven: Herontdekking, waardering en onderzoek, Nijmegen 1995
-
1995J. Pilc and R. White, 'The Application of FTIR-Microscopy to the Analysis of Paint Binders in Easel Paintings', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XVI, 1995, pp. 73-84
-
1996J.-C. Frère, Les primitifs flamands, Paris 1996
-
1996C. Stroo et al., The Flemish Primitives: Catalogue of Early Netherlandish Painting in the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, 6 vols, Brussels 1996
-
1996L.C. Vegas, Il Quattrocento: L'arte del Rinascimento, Milan 1996
-
1998Campbell, Lorne, National Gallery Catalogues: The Fifteenth Century Netherlandish Paintings, London 1998
-
1998M. Smeyers, Dirk Bouts: Schilder van de Stilte, Louvain 1998
-
2000G. Finaldi, The Image of Christ, London 2000
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
Frame
This sixteenth-century Italian architrave frame had been painted black when acquired in 2007. The poplar wood on the back edge is visible. The frame is topped with mouldings from highly polished walnut wood. The top fillet step leads to an ovolo, which descends towards the frieze, while the sight moulding rises to an astragal and concludes with a cavetto sight moulding.
Following its acquisition, the frame was restored, including the removal of a paint layer, exposing visible burn marks from candles on the lower back edge. The frame still retains its original hanging device, although this is now purely decorative and no longer used for hanging the work.
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
More works by Dirk Bouts
(Showing 6 of 7 works)
Christ wears the rich cloak and the crown of thorns in which, according to the Gospels, he was dressed before he was crucified. But the wounds of the Passion (his torture and crucifixion) indicate that he has already died and been resurrected.Bouts brings Jesus’s torments vividly to life, showing...
Not on display
A fair-haired man stands in an interior, gazing past us. Through the window behind him we can see a landscape with a church in the distance. The date on the back wall makes this the earliest datable – and in fact the only dated painting – by Bouts, and the earliest dated portrait to include an op...
Not on display
The Virgin and Christ Child are seen as if at an open window, with the infant perched on the sill. Mary gazes lovingly at her son and offers him her breast; images of the Virgin breastfeeding emphasised Christ’s humanity and vulnerability.Small religious panels like this were used as an aid to pr...
Not on display
Workshop of Dirk Bouts
This small picture once made up a diptych (a folding painting in two parts) with another in our collection, the Mater Dolorosa. It was probably intended for private devotion: Christ’s pain was meant to inspire empathy in the viewer, who was encouraged to meditate upon his suffering as a means of...
Not on display
Workshop of Dirk Bouts
This small painting of the sorrowing Virgin once went with another painting in our collection, Christ Crowned with Thorns. They originally made up a diptych, a folding painting in two parts. It was probably intended for private prayer: the Virgin’s grief was intended to inspire empathy in the vie...
Not on display
Workshop of Dirk Bouts
The Virgin and Child are shown as an affectionate mother and laughing infant. Christ holds an apple, alluding to the fruit with which Eve tempted Adam in the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, leading to the Fall of Man.Devotion to Mary was an important part of a great flowering of private rel...
Not on display
Workshop of Dirk Bouts
The Virgin, holding the infant Christ, sits on a marble throne with a luxurious material stretched across it – a cloth of honour, something often hung behind medieval royalty. Two saints stand with them, and particular symbols tell us who they are. On the Virgin’s right is Saint Peter, a key peep...
Not on display
You've viewed 6 of 7 works