The Entombment Drawing: Bosch, His Workshop and a Disputed Design

Christ’s body lies across a pale winding sheet, his head at the left and his feet extending towards the right. Two bearded men bend at either end, holding the cloth above a rectangular tomb. Behind them, mourners gather in a compact group: one woman touches her cheek, another carries a vessel, and the Virgin bows beneath a long mantle. The empty front of the tomb gives the scene a quiet horizontal foundation.

This is the British Museum’s Entombment of Christ, registration number 1952,0405.9. The museum currently places it in Bosch’s workshop and names the proposed Master of the Prado Haywain Triptych as its draughtsman.^[1] The Bosch Research and Conservation Project’s 2016 catalogue, or BRCP, instead argues for Bosch himself.^[3] The disagreement concerns the hand responsible for an unusually developed drawing, whose figures can still be examined closely without treating its attribution as settled.

At a Glance

• SubjectThe Entombment of Christ
• Current museum classificationWorkshop of Hieronymus Bosch; drawn by the Master of the Prado Haywain Triptych
• Alternative attributionHieronymus Bosch, argued by the BRCP in 2016
• DateAbout 1505–1515, current museum record
• MediumBrush and black and grey ink, with grey wash, over black chalk
• Dimensions25.3 × 30.5 cm, current museum record
• CollectionBritish Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, London
• Registration1952,0405.9
• AcquisitionPresented by the National Art Collections Fund in 1952
• Proposed functionA developed design, possibly for a painting or sculptural group

Compare these works across Bosch’s career

These date ranges are estimates, not a documented year-by-year sequence. These works provide context for the article; none is highlighted as the object discussed here.

Approximate dates

14801490150015101520

Saint Jerome at Prayer

Circa 1485–1495 ^[2]

Crucifixion with a Donor

Circa 1490–1500 (BRCP) ^[2]

Hermit Saints Triptych

Circa 1495–1505 ^[2]

Saint Liberata Triptych

Circa 1495–1505 ^[2]

The Hearing Forest and the Seeing Field

Circa 1500–1505 (Berlin exhibition) ^[4]

The Haywain Triptych

1510–1516 (BRCP) ^[2]

Annotated Details from The Entombment Drawing

The British Museum drawing gathers mourners around Christ’s body. The reproduction is cropped to the drawing’s paper, leaving the museum mount and colour target outside the view.

Details from THE ENTOMBMENT DRAWING

The museum and BRCP attribution arguments are explained in the article. These details follow the figures and the handling of line.

1

Christ and the supporting cloth

Christ’s body lies across a long cloth. Its broad pale folds connect the figures holding the head and feet on either side.

2

The central mourners

The central women bend towards the body or hold their hands together. Darker passages of wash distinguish the closely overlapping garments.

3

The figures at the feet

At the right, a bearded man supports the cloth near Christ’s feet. A standing woman behind him bends her head towards the body.

Image and detail crops: Wikimedia Commons source 1 (public domain reproductions).

A Body Held above the Tomb

Christ’s body creates the principal line across the composition. The head rests low at the left, turned towards the viewer, while the chest rises slightly before the long legs carry the eye towards the opposite end. The hands lie together over the lower torso. Short strokes and darker passages give the body weight without surrounding it with a fully described landscape.

The winding sheet supports that weight. Its edge drops in broad curves over the front of the tomb, gathering more tightly where the men hold it. The cloth has a practical role in the burial, but it also connects the attendants visually. A pulled corner, a hanging fold and a change of direction allow the viewer to follow the same fabric from one end of the body to the other.

The tomb’s face remains comparatively bare. Its broad pale surface contrasts with the concentrated marks around Christ and the mourners. That difference prevents the lower part of the drawing from competing with the bodies above it. The rectangular enclosure establishes the place of burial while leaving most of the emotional action to hands, heads and cloth.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus

The museum identifies the two men lowering Christ as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.^[1] At the left, a long-bearded attendant bends beneath a soft, pointed cap. His head inclines towards Christ, and one hand reaches down beside the resting head. Broad folds at the shoulder and sleeve make the effort of bending particularly visible.

The attendant at the right has a much longer, straighter fall of beard. A plumed cap rises above his head, and a round clasp fastens the garment near his shoulder. One arm draws the cloth upwards beside Christ’s legs; the other hand extends towards the sheet’s lower edge. A decorated purse-like object hangs at his side.

Their different poses help hold the composition together. The left figure folds down into the scene, while the right figure pulls back towards its boundary. Between them, the supported body remains almost horizontal. The exchange is physical rather than conversational: their hands describe a shared task, and their inclined heads keep attention upon its solemn purpose.

The clothing makes the men distinct without identifying contemporary sitters. Elaborate headwear and accessories belong to the image’s visual character. They do not provide evidence for a portrait commission or justify assigning an actual historical person to either face.

The Virgin and Saint John

The Virgin occupies the middle of the group, immediately behind Christ. Her hood encloses the face, and her mantle falls towards the body in long, closely spaced lines. The gathered hands remain near her chest. Unlike the men working at the ends of the cloth, she directs most of her movement inwards.

Saint John bends beside her from the left. His uncovered head tilts downwards, and an arm reaches towards her hands. Large, angular folds spread around his bent body, producing some of the drawing’s strongest changes between light and dark. His supporting gesture links the standing mourners with the burial taking place below them.

The two figures create a second centre within the composition. Christ’s body extends laterally across the foreground; Mary and John form a concentrated upright group above it. Their proximity gives grief a visible relationship of support. The drawing does not require a theatrical collapse to make their distress apparent.

The Three Women behind Them

Three further women complete the gathering. The woman at the far left wears an elaborate headdress with a long trailing section. She holds the crown of thorns and nails, objects the museum identifies as Instruments of the Passion.^[1] Their presence connects the burial with the suffering that preceded it, while their small scale allows them to remain part of a human action rather than a separate emblem.

Towards the back, a long-haired woman raises one hand to her cheek. The other hand rests around a vessel held close to her body. The gesture is particularly restrained: a bent wrist and an inclined face are enough to establish mourning. Little movement is needed because the surrounding figures already direct attention towards Christ.

The woman at the right stands beneath a folded head covering, holding another vessel with both hands. Dark angular passages separate her sleeves and mantle. Her comparatively upright posture provides a quiet counterpoint to John’s bending body and the attendants’ more strenuous positions below.

The museum includes Mary Magdalene among these three women.^[1] The group can be followed without forcing a secure individual name upon every head. Their different objects and gestures establish distinct responses within a shared act of mourning.

Pen, Brush and Layers of Work

The current museum record describes brush and black and grey ink, grey wash and underlying black chalk. The BRCP additionally emphasises pen work over broader, vaguer passages, identifying several stages of development.^[1][3] Fine contours and more expansive areas of tone consequently perform different jobs within the same image.

Close parallel strokes describe folds, limbs and faces. Elsewhere, darker shapes occupy the recesses between garments. The movement from a lightly modelled surface to a reinforced edge gives the figures a substantial presence. Even the drapery’s apparently abrupt angles remain connected to the effort of standing, bending or carrying.

The museum’s commentary reproduces a 2003 label suggesting that the direction of the hatching points towards a left-handed artist.^[1] That remains an attributional observation, rather than an independently documented identity. The direction of a group of strokes cannot, by itself, supply the name of the person who made them.

The physical measurements differ slightly between sources. The museum gives 253 by 305 millimetres, while the BRCP gives 252 by 304.^[1][3] Both describe the same drawing. The small discrepancy does not require an invented account of trimming between publications.

A Developed Design, but for What?

The drawing has often been understood as a modello: a relatively developed design made during the planning of another work. The BRCP adopts that interpretation, tracing it back to Arthur Ewart Popham’s early discussion.^[3] The coherent group, substantial modelling and carefully organised cloth distinguish it from a page of isolated figure trials.

The 2016 exhibition catalogue Visions of Genius suggests that it may have been intended for execution by someone else, perhaps as a painting or a sculptural group.^[5] The Prado’s exhibition guide likewise proposes a possible connection with a carved altarpiece, drawing attention to the composition’s frieze-like arrangement.^[6] These are proposals about function, rather than identification of a surviving commission.

The arrangement helps explain the sculptural comparison. Most of the action is presented across a shallow space, with heads and upper bodies rising behind the horizontal tomb. A viewer can imagine the figures occupying a relief or carved group. That visual possibility does not establish a particular workshop, patron, church or material for the intended final work.

The missing destination remains a limit on interpretation. There is no securely identified finished object against which every fold or gesture can be checked. The drawing provides evidence of a carefully developed composition while leaving its eventual use uncertain.

Bosch or the Master of the Haywain?

The museum’s attribution connects the drawing with the proposed Master of the Prado Haywain Triptych, a name used in Fritz Koreny’s reconstruction of a workshop artist.^[1] This is a scholarly designation derived from works grouped together, rather than the recovery of a documented personal name.

The BRCP accepts some of the visual comparisons while reaching a different conclusion about authorship. Its catalogue relates John’s drapery to a figure in the Haywain triptych and compares the drawing’s layered handling with other works it assigns to Bosch.^[3] For those authors, the connections support Bosch’s own hand rather than a separate workshop master.

That distinction explains why agreement about a resemblance does not necessarily produce agreement about an attribution. If the comparison painting is itself assigned differently, a similar cloak or working method can be placed within two competing accounts of an artist’s practice. The name attached to the drawing depends partly upon the larger body of work with which it is compared.

The BRCP also distinguishes painted handling from preparatory underdrawing when discussing the angel in Saint John on Patmos.^[3] The comparison concerns how forms are built through marks, rather than a claim that the London sheet prepared that angel. Similarity of technique and a direct preparatory relationship are separate questions.

A Later Name on the Sarcophagus

The British Museum records a difficult inscription on the sarcophagus in black chalk, now invisible to the naked eye, which it reads tentatively as a version of Bosch’s name. It explicitly assigns the inscription to a later hand.^[1] The name therefore cannot resolve the authorship debate as an autograph signature.

The museum also records names of Israel van Meckenem on a historic mount.^[1] Those inscriptions belong to the object’s history of attribution and collecting. They do not supply proof that the image was made by the person named on its later support.

Other changes affect how the composition is framed. The BRCP records a later border and a smoothed vertical fold through the sheet.^[3] These should be distinguished from the drawn tomb, cloth and figures. The image’s present enclosure includes the history of its treatment as a collected object.

From Pepper Arden Hall to the British Museum

The current museum account traces the drawing through the Webb and Chermside families to Richard Gatty of Pepper Arden Hall in Yorkshire. It reports that the sheet had apparently hung in the house’s billiard room before acquisition.^[1] That detail concerns its later domestic setting, not the place for which the Entombment was originally designed.

In 1952, the National Art Collections Fund bought a group of eleven drawings from Gatty for presentation to the British Museum. The museum notes that discussions had begun in 1949.^[1] It entered the collection as a work by Bosch, making its subsequent reassessment part of the history of that acquisition.

Today the strongest account preserves both the drawing’s visual coherence and the limits of its attribution. Its lowered body, supported mother, working attendants and quieter witnesses form a complete act of mourning. The marks remain available for close comparison, even while the identity of their maker and the destination of the design continue to be debated.

Artworks and related attributions

Browse paintings, drawings and related attributions. Records group triptychs, fragments and two-sided sheets where appropriate. Dates follow the cited museum records or catalogue headings and are generally estimates. Rows marked “2016 catalogue” report that publication’s attribution and collection information; these are dated opinions, rather than a claim that every work is an accepted autograph Bosch.

79 records

Search records Medium All media Drawing Painting Reset

Name	Date	Medium, attribution and collection
A Crossbowman	Second half of the sixteenth century	Oil on oak panel · Copy after Hieronymus Bosch · Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid · P002695 Source 1. Source 2.
A Woman Spinning and an Old Woman	Museum estimates: about 1480–1490 for the women and 1500–1505 for the reverse; the precise chronology is disputed	Pen and brown and grey ink on the front; pen and brown ink on the reverse · Hieronymus Bosch · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam · N 190 recto and verso (PK) Source 1. Source 2.
Adoration of the Child in Cologne	Second half of the sixteenth century	Oil on oak panel · Imitator of Hieronymus Bosch, in the city collection record · Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud, Cologne · WRM 0474 Source 1. Source 2.
Adoration of the Magi in Philadelphia	Early sixteenth century in the museum record; around 1495–1520 in the BRCP catalogue	Oil on oak panel · Hieronymus Bosch in the museum record; workshop of Bosch in the 2016 BRCP catalogue · Philadelphia Museum of Art, John G. Johnson Collection, 1917 · 1321; museum object 103592 Source 1. Source 2.
Adoration of the Magi — New York	c.1470–1480	2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on oak · Metropolitan Museum 13.26 2016 catalogue.
Adoration of the Magi — Prado triptych	c.1494	Oil on oak; grisaille exterior · Bosch · Prado P002048 Object source.
Adoration of the Magi — three associated fragments	c.1515–1535	2016 catalogue: Follower of Bosch · Two Shepherds / Retinue in Philadelphia; associated Adoration in private collection in 2016 2016 catalogue.
Ascent of the Blessed — Venice	c.1505–1515	Oil on panel · Bosch · Gallerie dell’Accademia; Visions of the Hereafter Object source.
Battle of the Birds and Mammals	Not specified in catalogue heading	2016 catalogue: Bosch; pen and brown ink · Berlin KdZ 14715 2016 catalogue.
Beggars and Musicians	Around 1530–1540	Ink and wash on paper · Unknown follower of Hieronymus Bosch · Albertina, Vienna · 7798 Source 1. Source 2.
Christ Carrying the Cross Drawing	Around 1470 in the museum catalogue	Black chalk or charcoal, pen and brush in brown ink, white corrections · Anonymous, workshop of Rogier van der Weyden · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam · N 81 recto and verso (PK) Source 1. Source 2.
Christ Carrying the Cross in Vienna	Around 1490–1510 in the current KHM record and BRCP catalogue	Oil on oak, painted on both sides · Hieronymus Bosch; possible workshop involvement in the Passion side discussed by the BRCP · Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna · Gemäldegalerie, GG 6429 Source 1. Source 2.
Christ Carrying the Cross — El Escorial	c.1495–1505	2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on oak · Patrimonio Nacional 10014739 2016 catalogue.
Christ Carrying the Cross — Ghent	c.1510–1516 (museum)	Oil on panel · Bosch in museum listing; authorship disputed · MSK Ghent 1902-H Object source.
Christ Mocked — London	c.1510	Oil on wood · Bosch · National Gallery NG4744 Object source.
Concert in the Egg, After Hieronymus Bosch	Around 1561; third quarter of the sixteenth century	Oil on canvas · Anonymous, after Hieronymus Bosch · Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille · P 816 Source 1. Source 2.
Conjurer / Comical Concert — Louvre drawing	Not specified in catalogue heading	2016 catalogue: Bosch (recto), follower (concert verso) · Pen and brown ink · Louvre INV 19197 2016 catalogue.
Conjurer / Cross-bearing and beggars — Liège sheet	Not specified in catalogue heading	2016 catalogue: Bosch (verso), follower (recto) · Pen and brown ink · Album d’Arenberg 534 2016 catalogue.
Crowning with Thorns — El Escorial	c.1530–1540	2016 catalogue: Follower of Bosch; oil on oak · Patrimonio Nacional 10014743 2016 catalogue.
Crucifixion with a Donor	Circa 1495–1505; Circa 1490–1500	Oil on oak panel · Hieronymus Bosch · Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels · 6639 Source 1. Source 2.
Death and the Miser Drawing	Not securely established; probably made after the painting	Pen and brush, dark ink and white highlights on prepared paper · Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch in the BRCP catalogue; alternatives recorded by the Louvre · Musée du Louvre, Department of Prints and Drawings, Paris · RF 6947, Recto Source 1. Source 2.
Death and the Miser — Washington	c.1485/1490 (NGA)	Oil on panel · Bosch · National Gallery of Art 1952.5.33 Object source.
Ecce Homo Triptych — Boston	c.1495–1500; wings c.1500/1503	2016 catalogue: Workshop of Bosch; oil on oak · Museum of Fine Arts Boston; several production phases 2016 catalogue.
Ecce Homo — Frankfurt	c.1490	Mixed technique on oak · Bosch · Städel 1577 Object source.
Fall of the Damned — Venice	c.1505–1515	2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on panel · Visions of the Hereafter · Venice 2016 catalogue.
Garden of Earthly Delights	1490–1500 (Prado)	Oil on oak; grisaille exterior · Bosch · Prado; triptych Object source.
Gluttony and Lust / Allegory of Intemperance — Yale fragment	c.1500–1510 (group dating)	2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on oak · Yale 1959.15.22; fragment associated with Ship of Fools 2016 catalogue.
Group of Ten Spectators, a Follower of Bosch	Around 1510–1540 in the current museum record	Pen and two brown inks on paper, with a brown framing line · Follower of Hieronymus Bosch in the Morgan record; Bosch in the BRCP catalogue · Morgan Library & Museum, New York · I, 112 Source 1. Source 2.
Head of an Old Woman	About 1500	Oil on panel · Attributed to Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam · 2439 (OK) Source 1. Source 2.
Hell and the Flood — Rotterdam panels	Around 1515 in the museum records; around 1510–1520 in the BRCP catalogue	Oil on oak panels · Jheronimus Bosch in the museum records; workshop of Bosch in the BRCP catalogue · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam Source 1. Source 2.
Hermit Saints Triptych	Circa 1495–1505	Oil on oak panels · Hieronymus Bosch · Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice · 2044 Source 1. Source 2.
Infernal Landscape	Not specified in catalogue heading	2016 catalogue: Bosch; pen and brown ink, red accent · Private collection in 2016 2016 catalogue.
Infernal Scene with Anvil / Monster Studies	Not specified in catalogue heading	2016 catalogue: Bosch; attribution debated in entry · Pen and brown ink · Berlin KdZ 548 2016 catalogue.
Infernal Scene with Tree-Man / Standing Man	Not specified in catalogue heading	2016 catalogue: Workshop of Bosch; pen and brown ink · Dresden C 1875; historical reverse title includes a proposed prophet 2016 catalogue.
Job Triptych — Bruges	c.1510–1520	2016 catalogue: Workshop of Bosch; oil on oak · Groeningemuseum / Hoeke loan in 2016 2016 catalogue.
Last Judgement — Bruges triptych	c.1495–1505	2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on oak · Groeningemuseum 2016 catalogue.
Last Judgement — Munich fragment	c.1530–1540	2016 catalogue: Follower of Bosch; oil on oak · Alte Pinakothek 5752 2016 catalogue.
Last Judgement — Vienna triptych	c.1500–1505 (BRCP 2016)	Oil on oak · Bosch and workshop (BRCP 2016) · Academy of Fine Arts Vienna 2016 catalogue.
Man in a Basket and Comic Figures	Around 1500–1515 in the museum record	Pen and brown ink on paper; the reverse is catalogued as iron-gall ink · Hieronymus Bosch in the current Albertina record; attribution has been debated · Albertina, Vienna · 7797 recto and verso Source 1. Source 2.
Man Seen from Behind	About 1550–1569; About 1565–1570	Traces of black chalk, pen and brush in light brown ink · Anonymous, circle of Pieter Bruegel the Elder · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam Source 1. Source 2.
Mary and John at the Foot of the Cross	About 1440	Brush in grey and black · Unknown, possibly Netherlandish · Kupferstich-Kabinett, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden · C 815 Source 1. Source 2.
Model Sheet with ‘Witches’	Disputed; proposals depend on the attribution	Pen and brown ink; the BRCP also records underlying black chalk · Hieronymus Bosch; follower attributions also recorded · Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, Paris · INV 19721 recto Source 1. Source 2.
Peasant and Three Bust-Length Figures	1401–1500	Brown pen over a black preliminary drawing · Attributed to the Master of the Drapery Studies; Bosch circle also recorded · Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin · KdZ 777 Source 1. Source 2.
River to Hell — Venice	c.1505–1515	2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on panel · Visions of the Hereafter · Venice 2016 catalogue.
Saint Anthony and a Concert in an Egg	Around 1510–1525 in the museum’s 2016–17 exhibition texts	Pen in light and dark brown inks · Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch; underlying monsters: Bosch (BRCP), possibly Bosch (exhibition text) · Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin · KdZ 711 recto and verso Source 1. Source 2.
Saint Christopher Carrying the Christ Child	c.1500; 1490–1505 in restoration material	Oil on panel · Bosch · Boijmans St 26 Object source.
Saint James and Hermogenes	About 1551–1575 in the KIK-IRPA catalogue	Oil on wood, painted on both sides · Anonymous follower of Hieronymus Bosch · Musée des Beaux-Arts, Valenciennes · P.46.1.44; older number 176 Source 1. Source 2.
Saint Jerome at Prayer	Circa 1485–1495	Oil on oak panel · Hieronymus Bosch · Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent · 1908-H Source 1. Source 2.
Saint John on Patmos / Passion Scenes	c.1495–1505; estimates vary	Oil on oak · Bosch · Gemäldegalerie Berlin 1647A Object source.
Saint John the Baptist in Meditation	Late 15th century; c.1485–1510 (Prado exhibition)	Oil on panel · Bosch · Lázaro Galdiano 8155 Object source.
Saint Liberata Triptych	Circa 1495–1505	Oil on oak panels · Hieronymus Bosch · Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice · 2045 Source 1. Source 2.
Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things	1505–1510 (Prado)	Oil on poplar · Bosch (Prado); workshop/follower disputed · Prado Object source.
Ship of Fools — Louvre painting	1475–1500 (record); c.1505–1515 (exhibition)	Oil on oak · Bosch · Louvre RF 2218; fragment Object source.
Ship of Fools — Louvre workshop drawing	Not specified in catalogue heading	2016 catalogue: Workshop of Bosch · Pen, brush, grey-brown ink and white highlights on prepared paper · Louvre RF 3714 2016 catalogue.
Studies of Monsters	About 1530–1550, according to the current Ashmolean record	Pen and brown ink on laid paper, both faces · Anonymous follower of Hieronymus Bosch · Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford · WA1863.155 Source 1. Source 2.
Studies of Saint Anthony and Monsters	No execution date specified in the current Louvre records	Pen and brown ink on paper · Bosch listed; reverse questioned by Louvre; BRCP accepts both faces · Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, Paris · INV 20871 recto and verso Source 1. Source 2.
Temptation of Saint Anthony — Kansas City fragment	c.1500–1510	2016 catalogue: Bosch; oil on oak · Nelson-Atkins 35–22 2016 catalogue.
Temptation of Saint Anthony — Lisbon triptych	c.1500	Oil on oak · Bosch · Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga 1498 Pint Museum.
Temptation of Saint Anthony — Prado panel	c.1530–1540	2016 catalogue: Follower of Bosch (2016 opinion); oil on oak · Prado P002049 2016 catalogue.
Terrestrial Paradise	Approximately 1505–1515	Oil on oak panel · Hieronymus Bosch · Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice Source 1. Source 2.
The Burning Ship Drawing	1500–1520	Pen and iron gall ink on paper · Attributed to Hieronymus Bosch · Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Graphic Collection · HZ-2554; numbered 2554 in the BRCP catalogue Source 1. Source 2.
The Comical Barber Scene	About 1550–1580, according to the British Museum	Pen and brown ink, grey and brown wash, over black chalk · Anonymous follower, after Hieronymus Bosch · British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, London · 1854,0628.46 Source 1. Source 2.
The Conjuror, After Hieronymus Bosch	Probably after 1525; around 1530–1540 in the BRCP technical report	Oil on oak panel · Anonymous follower of Hieronymus Bosch · Musée Ducastel-Vera, Saint-Germain-en-Laye · 872.1.87 Source 1. Source 2.
The Cure of Folly / Extraction of the Stone of Madness	1501–1505 (Prado)	Oil on oak · Bosch (Prado); workshop/follower disputed · Prado P002056 Object source.
The Entombment Drawing	About 1505–1515, current museum record	Brush and black and grey ink, with grey wash, over black chalk · Workshop of Hieronymus Bosch; drawn by the Master of the Prado Haywain Triptych; Hieronymus Bosch, argued by the BRCP in 2016 · British Museum, Department of Prints and Drawings, London · 1952,0405.9 Source 1. Source 2.
The Gathering of the Birds	Not specified in catalogue heading	2016 catalogue: Bosch; pen and brown ink · Berlin KdZ 13136 2016 catalogue.
The Haywain — Prado triptych	1510–1516 (BRCP 2016)	Oil on oak · Bosch (BRCP 2016) · Prado; separate Escorial version exists 2016 catalogue.
The Hearing Forest and the Seeing Field	Circa 1500–1505	Pen and brown ink on paper · Hieronymus Bosch; reverse: Bosch and workshop · Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin · KdZ 549, front and reverse Source 1. Source 2.
The Owl’s Nest — Rotterdam	Not specified in catalogue heading	2016 catalogue: Bosch; pen and brown ink · Boijmans N 175 2016 catalogue.
The Passion Triptych in Valencia	Workshop of Bosch, about 1510–1520; Follower of Bosch; centre about 1530–1540, wings about 1540–1550	Oil and gold on oak panels · Workshop of Bosch, about 1510–1520; Follower of Bosch; centre about 1530–1540, wings about 1540–1550 · Museu de Belles Arts de València Source 1. Source 2.
The Pedlar / Wayfarer — Rotterdam	c.1500 (museum)	Oil on panel · Bosch · Boijmans 1079 (OK); rejoined exterior Object source.
The Tree-Man — Vienna drawing	c.1505	Pen and brown ink · Bosch · Albertina, Vienna Object source.
The Wedding at Cana, After Hieronymus Bosch	Approximately 1560 in the current museum record	Oil on panel, 93 cm high × 72 cm wide · Anonymous, after Hieronymus Bosch · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, St 25 Source 1. Source 2.
Two Fantastical Creatures — Berlin KdZ 550	Around 1505–1515 in the museum’s 2016 exhibition text	Pen in brown ink on reddish prepared laid paper · Hieronymus Bosch · Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin · KdZ 550, recto and verso Source 1. Source 2.
Two Figures Wearing Mitres	About 1480	Oil on panel · Anonymous (Boijmans); Bosch circle (RKD) · Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam · 1177 (OK) Source 1. Source 2.
Two Men and the Temptation of Eve	About 1505–1515 in the Prado’s 2016 exhibition guide	Pen and grey-brown ink on paper · Hieronymus Bosch in the 2016 catalogues discussed here · Private collection, as recorded in 2016 Source 1. Source 2.
Two Men Fighting	Not specified in the current Louvre record	Pen and brown ink · In the manner of Hieronymus Bosch · Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts graphiques, Paris · INV 20660 recto; formerly NIII 8896 and MA 8400 Source 1. Source 2.
Two Men — Berlin KdZ 5210	Not specified in catalogue heading	2016 catalogue: Bosch questioned · Pen, brush, ink, chalk and white highlights · Berlin KdZ 5210; historical title Two Oriental Men 2016 catalogue.
Two Monsters — Berlin KdZ 547	Approximately 1500–1510 in Berlin's 2016 exhibition catalogue; an estimated range	Pen and brown ink on paper · Hieronymus Bosch · Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin · KdZ 547, drawn on both sides Source 1. Source 2.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who drew the Entombment?

The British Museum places it in Bosch’s workshop and names the proposed Master of the Prado Haywain Triptych. The BRCP instead argues for Bosch himself.^[1][3]

Where is the drawing?

It belongs to the British Museum, registration 1952,0405.9, presented by the National Art Collections Fund in 1952.^[1]

When was it made?

The current museum record gives about 1505–1515. That approximate range does not resolve the authorship disagreement.^[1]

Does the inscription prove Bosch’s authorship?

No. The name on the sarcophagus is a later inscription. It cannot settle which hand produced the drawing.^[1][3]

References

1. British Museum: The Entombment of Christ, 1952,0405.9, current catalogue and curator’s commentary View source.
2. BRCP Catalogue Raisonné (2016), object dates in catalogues 1, 2, 8, 15 and 20; catalogue 20 object metadata only for the Haywain comparison. View source
3. Bosch Research and Conservation Project: Catalogue Raisonné, 2016, entry 54, pages 560–563 View source.
4. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 2016 exhibition wall texts, p. 3: approximate date of KdZ 549. View source
5. Ilsink, Koldeweij and de Mooij: Hieronymus Bosch, Visions of Genius, 2016, entry 29, pages 104–105 View source.
6. Museo Nacional del Prado: Bosch, The 5th Centenary Exhibition, 2016 English exhibition guide, entry 53 View source.
7. Splash image, The Entombment of Christ, about 1505–1515, brush and black and grey ink with grey wash over black chalk, 25.3 × 30.5 cm, British Museum, 1952,0405.9. The museum assigns it to Bosch’s workshop and the Master of the Prado Haywain Triptych; the BRCP argues for Bosch himself. View source. View source.