Description
Rubens's Entombment was intended to make the viewer's religious experience personal and encourage the faithful to imagine the physical horror of Christ's crucifixion. Christ's tortured features confront the viewer, and our attention is drawn to his corpse, sacrifice, and suffering.
After his training in Antwerp, Rubens worked in Italy. In Rome, he studied Caravaggio's controversial works, including the great altarpiece The Entombment. Rubens later paid homage to him. Close examination reveals that he intended to create a faithful copy, but as he worked, he adapted it and made it his own. Unlike Caravaggio's static theatricality, Rubens emphasized the unity of the group and their shared task of burying Christ, while preserving the original's almost physical presence of Christ's lifeless body.
Rubens painted 2 paintings with the same title: see Rubens's Entombment here