The Entombment (Titian, 1559)

The Entombment is a 1559 oil-on-canvas painting by the Venetian painter Titian, commissioned by Philip II of Spain.

This second larger version was sent to Spain in 1559 along with Titian's Diana and Callisto and Diana and Actaeon, arrived at El Escorial in 1574, where it was displayed in the Iglesia Vieja (Old Church) beside two other paintings by Titian: his Adoration of the Magi and his 1567 second version of Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence.

This could have been inspired by Michelangelo's idea in his unfinished Deposition from 1550, depicting himself as Nicodemus, supporting the body of Christ, displayed in the cathedral in Florence.

The unusual depiction of the Virgin, assisting with the entombment, is not mentioned in the Gospel accounts, and may derive from by Pietro Aretino's 1538 book I quattro libri de la humanità di Christo.

The painting exhibits a style under development by Titian at the time, characterized by the use of broad brushwork and brilliant colours.