The Entombment of Christ

Harvard University Press has partnered with De Gruyter to make available for sale worldwide virtually all in-copyright HUP books that had become unavailable since their original publication. The 2,800 titles in the “e-ditions” program can be purchased individually as PDF eBooks or as hardcover reprint (“print-on-demand”) editions via the “Available from De Gruyter” link above. They are also available to institutions in ten separate subject-area packages that reflect the entire spectrum of the Press’s catalog. More about the E-ditions Program »

One of the most moving subjects of French late Gothic art, and a typical devotional image of the period, is a sculptured group depicting the Entombment of Christ, which is often carved almost life-size and placed within a large niche in a side chapel of a church. These sculptures were usually given by wealthy donors as appropriate monuments for their place of burial. They are considered together for the first time by William Forsyth, who traces their origin and development by region and province and the interrelationship of regional types. These sculptures offer a significant cross-section of French late Gothic sculpture and their study makes clearer the development and relationships of the great schools of sculpture of the period. Nearly three hundred photographs illustrate the work, and a catalogue of monuments, an appendix of documents, and a selective bibliography supplement the text.