Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art

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The distinctive English image, with Christ stepping on a soldier, in a 14th-century Nottingham alabaster relief

The resurrection of Jesus has long been central to Christian faith and Christian art, whether as a single scene or as part of a cycle of the Life of Christ. In the teachings of the traditional Christian churches, the sacraments derive their saving power from the passion and resurrection of Christ, upon which the salvation of the world entirely depends.[1] The redemptive value of the resurrection has been expressed through Christian art, as well as being expressed in theological writings.

Santa Maria Novella, Florence
, 1366, perhaps the earliest "hovering" Christ

However, the moment of the Resurrection is not described as such in the Gospels, and for over a thousand years it was therefore not represented directly in art. Instead at first it was represented by symbolic depictions such as the

Eastern Orthodox
art this has remained the case, but in the West the depiction of the actual moment of Resurrection became common during the Gothic period.

Early period

See also: Early Christianity
The Chi Rho with a wreath symbolizing the victory of the Resurrection, above Roman soldiers, c. 350

In the

Resurrection of the Dead, as Christ was resurrected from the dead. The depictions of the stories of Daniel and Jonah and the Whale in the Catacombs served as historical and Judaic precedents of salvation.[3]

An early symbol of the resurrection was the wreathed Chi Rho, whose origin traces to the victory of

Emperor Constantine I at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 AD, which he attributed to the use of a cross on the shields of his soldiers. Constantine used the Chi Rho on his standard and his coins showed a labarum with the Chi Rho killing a serpent.[4]

The use of a wreath around the Chi Rho symbolizes the victory of the Resurrection over death, and is an early visual representations of the connection between the Crucifixion of Jesus and his triumphal resurrection, as seen in the 4th-century sarcophagus of Domitilla in Rome.[5] Here, in the wreathed Chi Rho the death and resurrection of Christ are shown as inseparable, and the Resurrection is not merely a happy ending tucked at the end of the life of Christ on earth. Given the use of similar symbols on the Roman standard, this depiction also conveyed another victory, namely that of the Christian faith: the Roman soldiers who had once arrested Jesus and marched him to Calvary now walked under the banner of a resurrected Christ.[6]

Christology and iconography

The earliest crucifixion in an illuminated manuscript, from the Rabbula Gospels, also shows the resurrection.

The development of iconography of the Resurrection occurred at the same time as the

Three Marys (usually two in early depictions), or the Myrrhbearers as they are known in Eastern Orthodoxy, at the empty tomb of Jesus to convey the concept of the Resurrection; this was included in all four Gospels. One of the earliest depictions of the scene is an ivory plaque of c. 400 AD, already including the sleeping guards who were to become a standard element in later depictions, with an Ascension
scene above.

The late 6th-century

Western art.[9] Later depictions of the Women at the Sepulchre have also apparently been influenced by quasi-liturgical re-enactments; in Western monasteries monks dressed as the angel and the women and re-enacted the scene on Easter morning, which was called the Visitatio.[10]

Other scenes from the Gospels are the

Jonah and the Whale (which was supported by Matthew 12:38–41 and Luke 11:29–32), the Resurrection of Lazarus, and other Old Testament
episodes.

Chora Church, Istanbul, c. 1315[13]

Between the 6th and 9th centuries, the iconography of the Resurrection in the

Eastern Church was influenced by the iconography of the Transfiguration, given that there was no scriptural guidance for the depiction of the Resurrection scene.[14] In traditional Orthodox iconography the actual moment of the Resurrection of Christ ("Anabasis") is never depicted, unlike the treatment of the raising of Lazarus. The icons do not depict the moment of the Resurrection, but show the Myrrhbearers, or the Harrowing of Hell.[15] Usually the resurrected Christ is rescuing Adam and Eve, and often other figures, symbolizing the salvation of humanity.[16]
His posture is often very active, paralleling the Western depictions that show him climbing out of the tomb.

The cosmic significance of the Resurrection in

Chora Church in Istanbul, where John the Baptist, Solomon and other figures are also present, depicting that Christ was not alone in the resurrection.[13] The depiction sequence at the 10th-century Hosios Loukas monastery in Greece shows Christ wearing a new tunic, with gold lines, after he has broken through the gates of Hell. Christ then he pulls Adam, followed by Eve from his tomb, signifying the salvation of humanity after the resurrection.[17]

Direct representation

From the 12th century the Resurrection itself begins to appear regularly in the West, with Christ shown emerging from what is normally shown as a Roman-style sarcophagus placed on the ground. Sometimes his torso is shown above the top edge of the sarcophagus, but more often he stands on top of it, or places one foot on the edge. The slab has always been removed (by an angel, though they are rarely shown), and may lie to one side of the scene at a diagonal angle. The

medieval drama, which evolved complex traditions for dramatizing the event, including laments by the women at the tomb, and sub-plots involving the soldiers.[18][19]

Showing Christ "hovering" above the tomb was an Italian innovation of the

Basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, which dates to 1366.[20] While earlier Northern artists showed Christ rising out of the tomb, but still with his feet on the ground, or the tomb itself, Matthias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece (1505–1516) has a striking composition with Christ hovering in mid-air, which was already common in Italy, for example in a Raphael altarpiece of about 1500 (see gallery) and works by Titian and many others. Sometimes Christ is framed by a mandorla

Representations of the resurrection continued to evolve in the

Triumphal cross" (Crux longa in Latin) is a simple, somewhat long, shaft crossed at the top from which a banner may float. Christ bears this in his hand in many depictions, as his standard of power, and the conqueror over death and Hell. However this must be distinguished from the shaft depicted in the hand of Saint John the Baptist which is a reed.[22] The banner on the Triumphal cross is usually white and has a red cross, symbolizing the victory of the resurrected Christ over death. The symbol derived from the 4th century vision of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great and his use of a cross on the Roman Standard.[23]

Resurrection (Annibale Carracci), 1593, Louvre

The

San Cassiano (Venice)
still shows the figure of Christ as floating above the tomb.

Depictions of the Resurrection continued into the

Rubens producing two paintings in 1611 and 1635 in which the triumphant figure of a resurrected Christ dominates the space. As in other religious subjects, after Tiepolo and his Spanish imitators, the momentum in producing religious art was lost.[25] However, the depiction of the Resurrection continues to be a major theme in Christian churches, e.g. as in the 19th-century Rosary Basilica in Lourdes
, France.

Paintings with articles

Gallery of art

Eastern Church

Western Church

Music

  • Marc-Antoine Charpentier:
    • Messe pour le samedi de Pâques, for soloists, chorus and continuo, H.8 (1690).
    • Prose pour le jour de Pâques, for 3 voices and continuo, H.13 (1670)
    • Chant joyeux du temps de Pâques, for soloists, chorus, 2 treble viols, and continuo, H.339 (1685).
    • O filii à 3 voix pareilles, for 3 voices, 2 flutes, and continuo, H.312 (1670).
    • Pour Pâques, for 2 voices, 2 flutes, and continuo, H.308 (1670).
    • O filii pour les voix, violons, flûtes et orgue, for soloists, chorus, flutes, strings, and continuo, H.356 (1685  ?).
  • Louis-Nicolas Clérambault: Motet pour le Saint jour de Pâques, in F major, opus 73
  • André Campra: Au Christ triomphant, cantata for Easter
  • Dieterich Buxtehude: Cantatas BuxWV 15 and BuxWV 62
  • Carl Heinrich Graun: Easter Oratorio
  • Henrich Biber: Missa Christi resurgentis C.3 (1674)
  • Michael Praetorius: Easter Mass
  • Johann Sebastian Bach: Christ lag in Todesbanden, BWV 4; Der Himmel lacht! Die Erde jubilieret, BWV 31; Oster-Oratorium, BWV 249.
  • Georg Philipp Telemann, more than 100 cantatas for Eastertide.
  • Jacques-Nicolas Lemmens: Sonata n° 2 "O Filii", Sonata n° 3 "Pascale", for organ.
  • Charles Gounod: Messe solennelle de Pâques (1883).
  • Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: La Grande Pâque russe, symphonic overture (1888).
  • Sergueï Vassilievitch Rachmaninov: Suite pour deux pianos n°1 – Pâques, op. 5, n° 4 (1893).

See also

Notes and references

  1. ISBN 0-8028-2417-X
    ; p. 490
  2. ISBN 978-0-8010-1461-1
    ; p. 95
  3. ISBN 0-8014-9306-4
    ; pp. 5–6
  4. ISBN 0-415-20454-2
    ; p. 149
  5. ^ "Sarcophagus of Domitilla". Archived from the original on 2010-06-24. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
  6. ISBN 0-7546-5011-1
    ; p. 8
  7. ISBN 0-88141-149-3
    ; p. 72
  8. ISBN 0-8264-1697-7
    ; p. 114
  9. ISBN 0-567-08891-X
    ; p. 72
  10. ^ Haney, 116
  11. ^ Young, 118–121
  12. ^ Young, 112–113
  13. ^
    ISBN 0-567-08891-X
    ; p. 73
  14. ISBN 0-88141-295-3
    ; pp. 161–167
  15. ISBN 978-0-913836-99-6
    ; p. 185
  16. ISBN 0-520-21932-5
    ; p. 60
  17. ISBN 0-271-01670-1
    ; p. 133
  18. ISBN 978-0-7546-5101-7
  19. ISBN 978-0-520-04081-6
  20. ^ Elly Cassee, Kees Berserik & Michael Hoyle, The Iconography of the Resurrection: a re-examination of the risen Christ hovering above the tomb, 1984, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 126, No. 970 (Jan., 1984), pp. 20–24 JSTOR
  21. ISBN 1-110-65274-7
    ; p. 240
  22. ISBN 1-4446-3978-1
    ; pp. 355–356
  23. ISBN 0-8028-4676-9
  24. ISBN 0-313-24658-0
    ; p. 248
  25. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia

Bibliography

External links

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