The Entombment with Three Birds
Medium
engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 45.7 x 35.3 cm (18 x 13 7/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1943.3.5770
Art Historical Context
The Entombment with Three Birds is a striking Renaissance engraving created around 1500–1504 by Giovanni Antonio da Brescia after a design by the celebrated painter Andrea Mantegna. The work depicts the somber biblical moment of Christ’s burial, rendered with careful attention to the figures’ grief and the quiet dignity of the scene. The addition of three birds introduces a subtle symbolic element, possibly evoking themes of resurrection or the natural world’s response to the sacred event. As an engraving, this print played an important role in disseminating Mantegna’s compositions beyond the...