Gustav Jäger (1808-71) studied at the academies in Leipzig and Dresden, and went to Munich in 1830, where he trained with Julius Schnorr. He first exhibited publicly in Dresden in 1832, and subsequently showed works in Munich, Berlin and Vienna. In 1836 and 1837, he was working in Rome. He was appointed director of the Academy in Leipzig in 1847. In 1850 he completed Schnorr's frescoes for the Nibelung Room at the Neue Residenz in Munich. Among his most successful works is his decoration of the palace in Weimar, completed in 1848. His Burial of Christ, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig, is another example of his panel paintings of religious subjects, for which he was best known.

Outside the open tomb, the body of Christ lies supported by St Joseph, kneeling as he lays the crown of thorns to the right; the Magdalen kisses His hand as she kneels, on the left. The grieving Virgin is comforted by St John. Three further figures stand behind them. Golgotha is visible in the distance, left.