Christ Carried to the Tomb

Christ Carried to the tomb (c. 1610) is an oil on canvas painting by Sisto Badalocchio. It is located in Room XVIII of the Borghese Gallery in Rome. Its dimensions are 123 x 168 cm.

Sisto Badalocchio Rosa (28 June 1585 – c. 1647) was an Italian painter and engraver of the Bolognese School.

History

Sisto Badalocchio assisted Annibale Carracci with the decoration of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome after working with Agostino Carracci in Parma from 1600 to 1602. Together with Lanfranco, in 1607, he published a series of engravings after Raphael’s Rooms in the Vatican City. Although he returned to Parma in 1609, he revisited Rome on various events.

Analysis

The horizontal format is suited to this depiction of the body of Christ being carried to his tomb on a winding sheet, following an iconographic tradition dating from the 15th century. 

This painting, datable to the second decade of the 17th century, is of unknown provenance. It is not recorded before the fidei-commissum of 1833, where it is attributed generically to the Borghese School.

Even though Roberto Longhi proposed the name of Antonio, Annibale Carracci’s nephew and Agostino’s son, Denis Mahon, subsequently ascribed the artwork to Sisto Badalocchio.

Other Versions

Several other versions of the painting exist nowadays, though their attribution remains problematic; a comparable composition is also known in several versions in the National Gallery, London. Badalocchio is recognized today as an essential figure in bringing the artistic styles of the Italian Baroque to northern Italy.

Borghese Gallery in Rome,
Book a Visit

Author: Sisto Badalocchio Rosa

Sisto Badalocchio

Sisto Badalocchio Rosa (28 June 1585 – c. 1647) was an Italian painter and engraver of the Bolognese School. Born in Parma, he started working under Agostino Carracci in Bologna, then Annibale Carracci, in Rome. His best-known work as an engraver was the Raphael's Bible series, which he created with his fellow student, Giovanni Lanfranco. The images represent a series of frescoes by Raphael's workshop in the Vatican loggia. As a painter, his most important work is the frescoes in the church of San Giovanni Evangelista, Reggio Emilia, which are based on Correggio's earlier works.

style="display: inline;">