“The Entombment of Christ”, Caravaggio, 1602/3, Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome. (originally in Chiesa Nuova, where there is good replica in situ)
Nicodemus stares out at us as he and St John lower the dead body of Christ into the tomb. Everything about him, from his bent back to the swollen vein in his right leg, draws us into the physical act of lowering the body into the ground. Like the stone slab on which they stand, his elbow pieces the pictorial boundary. But it is our thoughts and our hearts which are penetrated by the quiet gaze of this humble man. As he holds the corpse in his arms, is he is trying to hold in his heart the memory of something Jesus had once said: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” This Entombment scene with the three Mary’s in distress was painted to replace an existing Pietà. Indeed, Caravaggio may have wished to surpass Michelangelo’s Pietá just up the road in St Peter’s. But the most distinctive aspect of this work is that he chose Nicodemus, who once came to Jesus by night, for the starring role.
The Catholic Chaplaincy serves the students and staff of the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University and Queen Margaret University.
The Catholic Chaplaincy is also a parish of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh (the Parish of St Albert the Great) and all Catholic students and staff are automatically members of this parish.
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St Albert's Catholic Chaplaincy is part of the English Province of the Order of Preachers, a charity registered in England and Wales (231192) and in Scotland (SC039062).