The Entombment of Christ
1444
Stained glass fragment
Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 13.64.1
Matthew 27:61 places Mary Magdalene at the entombment, and she is often in Entombment images weeping over the body. but in this case neither of the two women in the background is likely to be the Magdalene. They wear the veils of married women, whereas she is traditionally pictured with her long blond hair uncovered. This omission on the part of the artist may be due to the studied calmness of the scene. There is no kissing of Jesus' hands or feet. Mary does not press her face against her son's. No mouths open to express lament.
The gestures and disposition of the figures echo those in the Nativity image from the same window: the dead body and the new baby are slanted at the same angle. Mary stands in the center of each frame in her red robe and blue cloak. And John's praying hands on the right echo Joseph's on the right of the Nativity panel.
John 19:38-42 says that the body was laid in the tomb by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. The latter's wealthy status is perhaps the reason for the velvet hat on the man on the right.
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Photographed at the cathedral by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.