9 Moving Paintings to Celebrate Easter
When they hear ‘Biblical Easter art’ many people imagine yawn-worthy saccharine angels or moralizing pictures out of a children’s Bible. If that’s how you imagine Easter art, think again.
Throughout many hundreds of years, the Easter story, as told in the New Testament, has been an inspiration and an artistic challenge for numerous painters. In fact, most of the great painters from the Renaissance up to the Post-Impressionists have painted at least one version of the Crucifixion during their careers.
If one Biblical painting looks much like any other in your eyes, here’s a selection of Easter paintings that are different. Together with the stories that inspired them, these paintings focus on the human elements in the Biblical account of Christ’s death and resurrection. Not on chubby little angels playing lutes.
Baroque Graveyard Scene by Rembrandt's Friend
Why did the Jewish religious leaders resent Jesus so much that they had him arrested for blasphemy and crucified? According to the Gospel of John, it all started after he raised Lazarus, his friend, from the dead (John 11:1–44).
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The Raising of Lazarus. (1631). Jan Lievens
This painting is by Dutch Golden Age painter Jan Lievens (1607–1674), who shared a studio with Rembrandt early in their respective careers. This close association with Rembrandt can be seen in the deep shadows and bright golden highlights Lievens uses to set the scene for the miracle that he portrays. The artist focuses on making the scene lifelike, painting Jesus as realistically as possible. He's not an imposing figure here. He's dressed in unassuming gray, and he’s barely got a halo.
The fact that something momentous is going on becomes clear not from the central figure of Christ, but from the hopeful and downright shocked facial expressions of the figures to the right. A ray of light brings their faces into focus, making them the first thing most people see when they look at the painting. The flowing white burial sheet that the servants are lifting from the grave where Lazarus is lying takes the viewer’s gaze downwards to the grave. This is where the actual miracle is taking place, but it isn’t announced with bright light or visual effects. The only thing you can see is two hands emerging from the grave, where Lazarus has been awakened from his sleep of death.
A Very Human Christ
Few other artists portrayed Christ as simply and humanely as Rembrandt. The great Dutch artist focuses on showing Christ as a man, not only as the Son of God. The characteristic golden light (the Rembrandt light) emphasizes the face of Christ. His eyes are fixed on the viewer, and there seems to be the beginning of a smile on his face. Another gleam of golden light rests on his hands, but in such a way that they almost look lighted up from within – the hands of a healer and worker of miracles. As with most paintings by Rembrandt, the color scheme is very simple, ranging from black and brown to tawny and gold.
Choice Between Light and Dark
The Last Supper (1896). Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret
“The Last Supper” by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret (1852 - 1929) shows Jesus at the center of a table, as he shares his last meal with his disciples. But he is looking at the viewer instead of his disciples, offering to partake of the wine, which is a symbol of the blood that he will shed on the cross. The stark contrasts of light and dark are an additional message emphasizing the choice between good and evil that each soul is invited to make.
The Last Supper. (1495-1498). Leonardo da Vinci
Painted during the last decade of the 19th century, which was highlighted by a keen interest in archeology, Dagnan-Bouveret’s “Last Supper” shows Jesus and his disciples in a setting that is plausible for Israel during the Roman Empire. The composition, however, borrows from Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper”, both in the way it creates a dynamic rhythm through the disciples’ poses and in Christ’s position at the center of the painting, framed by an arch.
Russian Last Supper
The Last Supper. (1863). Nikolay Nikolaevich Ge
The Russian artist Nikolay Ge painted his “The Last Supper” during his stay in Italy, where he studied art. He, too, chose a contrasting chiaroscuro, the play of light and dark, to convey this important Biblical scene. But here the story is slightly different. The painting shows the moment after Jesus offered his disciples the wine and the bread, symbolically offering them to accept his sacrifice on the cross and the salvation it would bring.
While eating the bread, he predicted that he will be betrayed by one of his disciples sitting at the table with him. Ge’s painting shows the betrayer, Judas, rising to go out and seek the Jewish religious leaders to whom he is about to betray Jesus. Judas’ figure is pitch black, showing the evil that has overtaken his heart. The disciples are puzzled and shocked, but Jesus looks away, knowing in advance what Judas intends to do.
Personal Savior
Saint Luke as a Painter before Christ on the Cross. (ca. 1650). Francisco de Zurbarán
Most of the classical European artists have at least one version of the crucifixion. In Catholic Spain, there was a painting of the crucifixion in nearly every home.
Francisco de Zurbarán was one of the most important artists of the Counter-Reformation, painting numerous images of saints. In this painting, he depicted St. Luke, the author of one of the gospels. He was believed to have been a doctor and a painter. Here, he is portrayed standing before the crucified Christ, holding a palette and paint brushes in his hand. Many scholars believe that Zurbarán has actually painted St. Luke as a self-portrait, expressing his personal devotion to Christ.
Christ of the Snow
Christ of the Snow. (1929). Edward Okuń
Edward Okuń was a Polish Symbolist painter. His image of the crucified Christ differs drastically from the Biblical account of the crucifixion. In fact, not only does the scene take place in a turn-of-the-century North European town in winter, but Christ’s blood is shown as miraculously transformed into red roses. The surreal feeling of the image is increased by the fact that the tiny figures of the people in the background go about their business, paying no attention to the bleeding Christ. Perhaps the artist chose the dreary winter setting to better capture the solitary nature of suffering.
Mystery of the Resurrection
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Christ Lying in State. (ca. 1906). Vlaho Bukovac
“Christ Lying in State” by the Croatian painter Vlaho Bukovac (1855-1922) shows the body of Christ lying in the sealed tomb. Stalks of white lilies are lying at Christ’s feet, with angels lit in mysterious glowing light bowing before him. The painter imagines what must have been going on behind the scenes; something that no human eye has seen. In fact, Christ seems to float in space with the angels worshipping him. The viewer guesses that the setting is the tomb, but no walls can be seen. The entire composition is suffused in shadows being lit by light. The angel on the left is holding Christ’s crown of thorns.
Dawn of Wonder and Hope
The Resurrection Morning, Peter and Paul hurrying to the sepulchre. 1898. Eugene Burnand
The painting by French painter Eugene Burnand shows two of Christ’s disciples, Peter and John, hurrying to the tomb when told by Mary Magdalene that it was empty. The artist captures the concern and wonder on the disciples faces as they wonder what has happened. Although Christ predicted that he would rise again, his disciples were shocked and horrified by his crucifixion. Here, hurrying to see if the rumors about his resurrection are true, their facial expressions show a mix of fear and hope. By choosing a simple composition, where all the attention is fixed on the disciples’ faces, the painter focuses on the feelings that the resurrection morning brought.
Northern Christ
Christ and Mary Magdalene, a Finnish Legend. 1890. Edelfelt
Edelfelt was a Finnish painter best known for his paintings’ realism and naturalistic style. He chose to relocate the meeting of Mary Magdalene with the risen Christ to the bank of a Finnish lake. Both Christ and Mary wear garments that resemble the traditional garb of the Finnish peasants instead of Israelite clothing. The golden autumnal light and the tranquility of the water in the background bring out the emotional charge of the scene. Leaning on his staff, Christ reaches out to Mary Magdalene, whose eyes are fixed on him in awe and the unbelievable realization of his resurrection.
Further Reading:
Museo del Prado, The Crucified Christ with a Painter by Zurbaran
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Resurrection of Lazarus, a print by Jan Lievens
The Eclectic Light Company, Painting and Photography: the Work of Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret 2
The Christian Century, Faces of Jesus: Rembrandt and the Reincarnation
Art and the Bible, Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection by Eugene Burnand
Google Arts & Culture, Christ and Mary Magdalene, a Finnish Legend by Edelfelt
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