Resurrection
Basic Info
The actual moment of Jesus’ Resurrection is not described in any of the Gospel accounts. The only evidence of what happened is the reports of those who visited the empty tomb. Any artistic rendition of Jesus’ rising from the dead is grounded in either the artistic tradition or in the artist’s imagination.
The challenge for any artist is what to do with Jesus’ body in Resurrection images. He later eats fish with the disciples and Thomas is able to put his hand in the gash in Jesus’ side, but the disciples on the road to Emmaus don’t recognize Jesus and as soon as they do, in the breaking and blessing of the bread, he vanishes. How does one depict a glorified body? One traditional visual cue is the mandorla or almond-shaped aura surrounding Jesus’ whole body. The icon tradition always used this for depicting Jesus at the Transfiguration, the Anastasis, the Ascension, and the Last Judgment. Floating in the air, transparency, and a glow around his entire body are also seen, even if they are theologically problematic. Frequently the resurrected Jesus is shown carrying a staff from which hangs a banner of white cloth with a red cross in it. Usually the resurrected Jesus is shown with the wounds of the Crucifixion.
The point of depicting the moment is usually related to the awesomeness of the miracle or Jesus’ divinity more than the new life available to human beings as a result of the event. Anastasis icons are an exception to this rule.
What to Look For
- Glow or mandorla (sort of an almond-shaped full body halo) around Jesus
- Garments
- Proximity to the tomb or sarcophagus
- Staff and banner with cross
- Jesus’ body (normal, floating, transparent, partial, glowing, etc.)
Questions to Focus a General Interpretation
Does this artwork seem to be directed at the new life made possible by Jesus’ Resurrection, or does it lean more toward being a celebration of Jesus’ divinity or the miraculousness of his Resurrection?
The Gospels teach that Jesus was resurrected bodily, able to eat and be touched. Does this artwork present theological conflicts with that teaching (transparent body, partial body, etc.)?
Questions to Guide a Personal Interpretation
Does the artwork capture the moment as you imagine it, or is there something that seems off about it to you? How does this relate to the theology of the Resurrection as you understand it?
Questions to Suggest a Historical Interpretation
What was going on in the artist’s time and place that might have made a Resurrection image such as this an attractive devotional image?
Ridiculing the idea of resurrection from the dead is not exclusive to the 21st century. It was going on when Paul preached at the Areopagus in the middle decades of the 1st century (Acts 17:32). Might there have been public voices in the artist’s time and place challenging the idea of the Resurrection of the dead Jesus? Might such a voice have prompted this artwork as a response to the challenge?
