The Entombment of Christ 1475

Andrea Mantegna created this engraving, *The Entombment of Christ*, likely in the late 15th century, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The scene is rendered with a dramatic intensity, achieved through meticulous lines and a composition that guides our eye through layers of grief and solemnity. Notice how Mantegna employs a complex arrangement of figures, each etched with nuanced emotion, against a stark, almost theatrical landscape. The figures are carefully composed, guiding our gaze from the body of Christ towards the sorrowful mourners and up to the crosses on the distant hill. This spatial organization invites a reading that intertwines human suffering with divine tragedy. The medium itself enhances the thematic content, the stark lines and tonal contrasts contributing to a sense of stark reality. It is in these formal choices that Mantegna opens up avenues for interpreting the artwork, inviting a deeper engagement with the themes of sacrifice, loss, and the very human response to the divine.