Peter Paul Rubens
1615–16
Oil paint on wood
65.1 x 83.1 cm
This unusually large oil sketch was probably made in preparation for an altarpiece that was never completed. Characterised by dramatic lighting, it depicts a group of mourners struggling to lower Christ’s limp body into his tomb. Peter Paul Rubens based the composition on an altarpiece by the Italian artist Caravaggio, a work he knew well from his earlier stay in Rome. Rubens often looked to other artists for inspiration in the creation of his own paintings. This was a common practice at the time. Far from being mere imitation, it showed knowledge of important works of the past and built on them to produce new inventions.