Commentary on Titian’s ‘Entombment of the Dead Christ’ (Inscription by Turner)
- Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner
- Date: 1802
- Medium: Graphite on paper
- Dimensions: support: 128 x 114 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Commentary on Titian’s ‘Entombment of the Dead Christ’ (Inscription by Turner)” by Joseph Mallord William Turner. Created in 1802, the sketch is a tiny graphite drawing, just 128 × 114 mm, that sits in Turner’s Studies in the Louvre Sketchbook. In it he re‑imagines Titian’s dramatic composition, adding his own notes and a hand‑written inscription that turns the image into a personal commentary.
At this early stage of his career, Turner was still absorbing the Italian master’s colour and form, a process that would later inform his own stormy skies and luminous landscapes. The work was acquired by the nation in 1856 as part of the Turner Bequest, a testament to the enduring value placed on his study of the greats.
Today it is on display in the Turner & Constable exhibition, a tour de force that places the artist alongside his contemporary, showing how rivals also drew inspiration from one another. The piece is a fine example of how Turner used the Louvre’s collection to interrogate and reinterpret the masterpieces he admired.
See it in person
Commentary on Titian’s ‘Entombment of the Dead Christ’ (Inscription by Turner) is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
