• A look at four famous resurrection paintings

Easter, marked this year on 20 April, is one of the most important festivals of the Christian church. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. Several beautiful paintings of this blessed event are found in private art collections and art galleries around the world.

This account outlines some information relating to four famous resurrection paintings. Three of these paintings are from the 16th Century and the Peter Paul Rubens painting is from the early 17th Century.

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‘Resurrection of Christ’ by Annibale Carracci

This is an oil-on-canvas painting that was completed in 1593. It is found in the Louvre in Paris, France. It was originally produced for a private chapel in the Palazzo Luchini in Bologna, Italy. The palace and the painting were later sold to the Angelelli family.

Subsequently, the painting was given to the Corpus Domini Monastery in Bologna, where it was placed in a chapel dedicated to Catherine of Bologna (the Patron Saint of Artists). In 1797, during the Napoleonic wars, the painting was seized by the French authorities and never returned to Italy.

Annibale Carracci was a renowned Italian artist from the 16th Century. He was one of the founders of the Baroque style of painting. He often worked with his brother Agostino and cousin Ludovico in producing some famous paintings. According to the well-known art critic Giovani Bellori, Carracci was a paragon of Italian painters.

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‘The Resurrection’ by Peter Paul Rubens

This oil-on-panel painting is the centre panel of a triptych painting by Peter Paul Rubens. It was painted in 1611-1612 and is currently found at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, Belgium. This cathedral (the largest Gothic cathedral in Belgium) contains a number of other famous paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, including ‘The Raising of the Cross’, ‘The Descent from the Cross’, and ‘Assumption of the Virgin Mary’.

‘The Resurrection’ painting shows the risen Christ triumphantly emerging from the tomb, surrounded by frightened Roman soldiers. Rubens painted his ‘Raising of the Cross’ (1610-11) and ‘Descent from the Cross’ (1612–14) triptychs for the Antwerp Cathedral, shortly before and after the ‘Resurrection’ painting was completed.

The ‘Raising of the Cross’ and ‘Descent from the Cross’ paintings were initially confiscated by Napoleon and taken to France, but were then returned in the 19th Century.

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‘The Resurrection of Christ’ by Paolo Veronese

This oil-on-canvas painting was completed around 1570. It is found at the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, Germany, which also houses around 750 other paintings from the 15th to the 18th Century, including famous Italian Baroque and Renaissance masterpieces. In this ‘Resurrection of Christ’ painting, Christ is relatively small. He bears the wounds of the passion and floats upwards from the tomb with outstretched arms. His gaze is directed heavenwards. Soldiers showing signs of fear and horror are shown.

In the background and to the right of Christ is the portrayal of a later scene. Here, the tomb is shown with the arrival of the women to anoint Christ’s body. They find it empty and an angel is there to tell them what has occurred on that wonderful first Easter Day.

Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) was a great Venetian artist of the 15th Century. He was considered a supreme colourist by many art critics and peers. He used an altarpiece by the famous Titian as a guide for this ‘Resurrection’ painting.

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‘The Resurrection’ by Mathias Grunewald

This is an oil-on-panel painting that was completed between the years 1512 and 1516. It is housed at the Musee d’Unterlinden in Colmar in the Alsace region of France. It forms part of the renowned 16th Century ‘Isenheim Altarpiece’.

The painting is dominated by the figure of Christ. His pose is dynamic, with outstretched arms and the wounds of the crucifixion are shown prominently. Christ’s body is enveloped in flowing garments of white and red and a radiant halo encircles his head. The background of the painting is filled with a deep, celestial blackness, studded with golden stars.

The dramatic reaction of the Roman soldiers, who guarded the tomb, is shown below Christ. They are depicted in a state of chaos and disarray. This painting is indeed a wonderful and spiritually charged depiction of the resurrection. The ‘Isenheim Altarpiece’ was painted for the Monastery of St. Anthony in Issenheim. It was sculpted by Nikolaus Hagenauer and painted by Mathias Grunewald. It is considered as Grunewald’s star masterpiece.

(The writer is a medical doctor, academic, and nature, history, and art enthusiast)

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication