Dead Christ in the Tomb, Mourned by Two Angels

The model for this work was an original painting by Hans von Aachen, (Kremsmünster, Benediktinerstift). The painting represents dead Christ in the tomb mourned by two angels, there are two candle holders behind Christ’s head. The type of Christ’s body laid on the sarcophagus and flanked by two angels was spread in Munich through the copper engraving by Raphael I Sadeler, dated 1588, created after a drawing by Marco Angeli del Moro. The origin of this depiction is derived from Christ of St Gregory, the oriental icon representing Christ standing in the tomb with two angels. An important motif of the scene is the stone, supporting Christ’s head. The stone laid on the sarcophagus and covered with linen is an allusion to an altar mensa covered with cloth. In front of the two candles, in the place where the Eucharist is celebrated at the altar, Christ’s head is lying on the stone. The emphasis is thus on the Church, whose centre the Eucharist is. It could be a work of one of Aachen’s follower, perhaps pupils, dating it into the time around 1600.