Italian Renaissance Paintings
of the Resurrection of Christ

By W. Scott Lamb

The great British preacher C.H. Spurgeon once proclaimed, “The resurrection comes in as an undoing of all that death has done.”

Overcoming death and hell, Christ rose victorious through the power of God. The resurrection of Christ provides not only salvation for our soul, but also inspiration for our hearts.

Meditating on such a grand theme, artists throughout the ages have created works depicting this glorious event. If you desire to feast on these treasures, even a small amount of research will uncover dozens of great pieces from which to choose.

Today we are going to look at depictions of Christ’s resurrection, crafted by the hands of three Italian Renaissance painters. The work of Giotto di Bondone, Piero della Francesca, and Giovanni Bellini will guide our thinking about the glory of Christ and His resurrection.

Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337)

True revolutionaries are rare. Giotto di Bondone was one such man. Giotto broke away from Byzantine styles, with their highly stylized figures floating in the air of golden backgrounds. Trained as a shepherd, Giotto envisioned life in concrete realism – sheep, grass, trees, and sky – and sketched what he saw using chalk and rock.

One day a representative from Pope Boniface III approached Giotto and asked him for his best work. With great confidence, Giotto produced a perfect circle with one continuous stroke of his brush. Impressed, Boniface hired Giotto. Thus began the long career of the man widely regarded as the father of the Italian Renaissance.

Over the next 200 years great painters, sculptors, and architects would follow, and improve upon the pioneering steps of Giotto. Artists such as Brunelleschi, Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael, and da Vinci all stood under the influence of the realism of Giotto.

Giotto created the fresco Resurrection from 1304-1306. Commissioned by the Scrovengi family in Padua, Giotti filled the walls of their court chapel with beautiful depictions of Biblical scenes. Containing 39 different scenes, the chapel house was Giotto’s most remarkable work.

At 200 x 185 centimeters, the Resurrection is nearly a square. Darkness and light create horizontal division across the wall. The scene is placed at our point of view, allowing our eye to peer into the intimacy of the moment. The sky swirls with emotional brush strokes of black, grey, and blue. Although small in size, the tree and bushes serve as the gift of Giotto to modern painting. Allowing nature to be a participant, Giotto places his six figures in a setting that seems real, even if it is not as real as we come to expect from artists who follow.

The story involves four sets of figures. With a pole in hand, Jesus communicates through words on the banner, “Noli me tangere” or “Touch me not”. From John 20:17 we know the identity of the woman is Mary Magdalene. Matthew 28:4 says the men guarding the tomb became “as dead men”, and so we see them spread out on the ground. The two figures in white, one with wings showing, are obviously angels. That they are sitting on a big open box is due to historical inaccuracy. Rather than depicting Christ as coming out of a tomb in the rock, nearly all Renaissance artists depict Jesus as coming forth from a European-style sarcophagus.

What a powerful resurrection message this is! Jesus, the Savior with nail prints in His hand and feet, has truly risen from the dead. Look at those plants, those soldiers, those tree stumps – they are real just like Christ is real. This is not a symbolic resurrection located in abstract theology devoid of real power. Rather, His flesh and blood body is the object of resurrection power.

Look again at the angel on the right – he is smiling! 1 Peter 1:12 says “Angels long to look into these things” - the things pertaining to the gospel of Christ. What a joy it must have been for the angels to witness God’s power in Christ. These divine messengers witnessed their Lord’s incarnation from the borrowed manger to the borrowed tomb. Jesus humbled Himself at every point, and obeyed the Father in all things, even to the point of death on the cross. But now, the humbling was finished, and the exaltation had begun! (Philippians 2:8-9)

Christ is turned slightly away from Mary, seeming almost to walk off the wall out of the picture. Resurrected by God’s power, Jesus will soon ascend back to the Father in order to “go and prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

In depicting the resurrection of Christ, Giotto gives us a treasure of beauty and realism. And this is how we should meditate on the resurrection – as an event of both historical truth and beautiful truth. Do you believe in the reality of the resurrection? Do you savor the beauty of the resurrection?

Questions for further study: Why depict a pair of ugly tree stumps sticking out of the ground on the left? What are the angels holding in their hands? Are the soldiers wearing Roman uniforms? If not, then what kind are they wearing?

Piero della Francesca (1416-1492)

Moving beyond Giotto, we now come to a second painter from Florence, Piero della Francesca. Francesca excelled in the mathematical aspects of painting, putting the geometry of Euclid to work in production of masterpieces. In addition to painting, Francesca wrote numerous articles expounding the principles of perspective.

Although there are better known painters from this period of the Italian Renaissance, in focusing on the theme of the resurrection, Francesca’s Resurrection earns a spot on the list of the three best. Francesca painted this piece from 1463-1465. It is a mural using both fresco and tempera. After 500 years, this is one of Francesca’s best known works. Interestingly enough, his hometown is the location of this striking mural.

Even a quick glance at Francesca’s Resurrection reveals significant contrast between his work and that of the earlier Giotto. Vivid colors, detailed muscles, and textured fabrics all show the development of realism in painting. Loaded into the background, trees and bushes are numerous and real.

Take notice how the figure of Christ forms the top point of an imaginary triangle, with the sleeping guards forming the base. Arranging the characters in the figure of a triangle, Francesca provides the work with a central point of axis on which to gaze. Like the sleeping soldier at the right whose face is turned up toward Christ, we too look at the painting of Christ from below, looking up. The overall symmetry of horizontal and vertical lines give the work a feeling of balance and unity.

Clothed in a radiant pink cloak, Christ stands tall with his white banner in hand and His foot triumphantly on the sarcophagus. The marks of the nails in His hands and the wound in His side are the visible reminder of the suffering Christ has just recently endured.

The barren trees on the left side of the background stand in stark contrast to the living trees on the right. This is a metaphor for death and life. The light in the background appears to be the rising of the sun rather than its’ setting.

What is the message of this piece? Victory in Christ! Positioning the confident Christ above both the empty sarcophagus and the impotent soldiers, Francesca’s work bursts forth in praise of the victorious Christ. Who speaks threats against Christ now? No one. Although bearing the marks of His suffering, Christ nonetheless embodies strength and power.

Speaking of the resurrection, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:54 that “Death is swallowed up in victory.” All the elements in this painting unite to show the power and majesty of the conquering Christ. Francesca paints of victory over enemies. Do you know the victory of Christ in your own life?

Questions for further study: What is the history of the white banner with the red flag? Is there symbolism in the reddish-pink color of Christ’s robes? Why does the wound in the side of Jesus still appear to be bleeding?

Giovanni Bellini (1426-1516)

Turning to our third artist, we leave the town of Florence and move north to the city of Venice. Famous for its’ romantic canals and waterways, Venice was also home of wealthy merchants who desired beautiful works of art. However, the humid conditions of Venice made painting frescos a disappointment. Discovering the longevity of oil painting on canvas, Venetian artists found their paints exhibited richer colors than the egg-yolk variety used elsewhere.

The Bellini family of Venice produced a number of outstanding painters. Of these, Giovanni is the best-known. Even into his seventies, Bellini was regarded as one of the best living painters in all of Europe. His paintings represent a bridge between the calculated forms of the 15^th century Renaissance, and that of the high-emotions of the High Renaissance found in later artists such as Michelangelo.

Bellini painted Resurrection of Christ from 1475-1479. The smallest painting of the three we are examining, Bellini’s panel measures 148x128 cm. The location of the piece today is in the Staatliche Museum in Berlin.

Like the Francesca painting, this one also employs a triangle layout for the characters. The horizon cuts right through the middle of the painting, the top half showing the light of a rising sun. These elements draw our eyes right to the central figure of Christ.

White clothes, symbolic of purity and victory, adorn the risen body of Christ. Once again we witness a white banner with red cross, this too a symbol of Christ’s victory. Positioning Christ in the air, Bellini combines both the resurrection and the ascension into one event.

Bellini’s Resurrection combines both natural and symbolic elements. Most of the guards remain unconscious, but one of them stands as an amazed witness of Christ. Coming toward the tomb are three women, common figures in resurrection scenes. Running away from the tomb are two rabbits, a traditional Christian symbol of victory over death.

There is a story to be told that is easy to comprehend. And yet, the rabbits, bird, banner, and hand sign create intrigue regarding their individual meaning. Like much of the High Renaissance that followed, the meaning of the painting is easy to understand, although individual elements in the work require interpretation.

Looking at Bellini’s Resurrection, what do you see? A sovereign Savior who will not be held in a grave, nor captured by soldiers, nor bound by laws of gravity - this is the vision! He is omnipotent over all things, and His Lordship reveals itself in His power over death, nature, and man. Nothing could hold Him down, and in the same manner which He left, He will return again.

Colossians 1:16, 18 says, “All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Bellini paints a picture of a sovereign Savior. Do you live in the reality of Christ’s sovereignty over all things?

Questions for further study: The large black bird appears to be placed as a symbol for something, but what? Whose face is depicted on the soldier’s shield? Does the city in the background look like 1st century Jerusalem? What is the meaning of the sign Jesus gives with His right hand?

Conclusion

As we conclude our brief tour, let us remember that the true glory of Christ cannot be contained in any work of art. “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face”

(1 Corinthians 13:12). The full glory of Christ is only found in Christ Himself. If you do not walk in personal knowledge of Christ, then I exhort you to read the Scriptures and consider the meaning of the resurrection. Turn in faith to Christ - the sovereign Savior.

He is risen. He is risen indeed!

W. Scott Lamb is one of the pastors of Providence Baptist Church in South County. He and his wife Pearl enjoy the challenges and pleasures of raising their four sons. Feel free to contact Scott at www.pbcstlouis.com. Each of the pieces mentioned in this article can be examined online by visiting the web site www.wga.hu.