The Entombment of Christ

Caravaggio's most publicly acclaimed altarpiece — even Rubens copied it. Christ's dead weight pulls the entire composition downward, his hanging arm brushing the stone of the tomb. Nicodemus stares out at us, implicating the viewer in the burial. The diagonal from the raised hand of Mary of Cleopas down to Christ's dragging shroud is one of the most muscular compositions in Baroque painting. The stone slab in the foreground juts into our space — the tomb is where we stand.