Art for Easter; Christ is risen!
A trip through the art of the Lord's Resurrection through the Christian ages
Just some fun Easter eye-candy. I thought we’d enjoy a trip through some depictions in the sacred art tradition, east and west, of the Resurrection and related events down through the ages, hopefully a few you might not have seen before. This is by way of saying welcome and thank-you to our recent influx of new subscribers, both paid and free, and to take a little holiday break from heavy research and writing.
We’re also going to run a few polls, asking subscribers (free) and members (paid) what kind of things they like best and hope to see more of on this publication… a little “market research”.
I'm mainly trying to figure out how to divide my time and limited energy to produce material suitable for both paid and unpaid posts. Since for now I’m the only one doing all the research and writing (and I have a whole nother job to do that should be/I wish were also full time… Remember painting?…I remember painting…) I need to figure out how best to use the time and energy I have to produce the best possible value for readers.
The Italian Renaissance: naturalism idealised
We see the sleeping Roman guards, the triumphant, idealised figure of Christ in the great Renaissance style of human figure rising out of a decidedly Renaissance style marble tomb, and the banner of the “Crux longa”, that represents victory over death. But at the same time some ancient Byzantine elements, established by the time of this painting throughout Christendom for over 1100 years are still present; especially the mandorla, the almond shaped figure behind Christ representing a gateway between heaven and earth. The style of the drapery also retains both earlier Gothic and Byzantine elements which we will see below.
Even so, we have moved past the idea of an icon - a sacred object on a par with a holy relic showing theological realities in symbolic language and bringing heavenly people into the room with the worshipper - to an altarpiece, a realistic, idealised but naturalistic representation of a past event intended not necessarily for devotion, for veneration, but to simply be seen by the viewer, in a rationalistic way.
Byzantine: symbolic reality
In the great Anastasis icon fresco of the monastery of Chora in Constantinople1, we see something completely different. Here Christ is seen having entered the underworld, Hades (not the hell of punishment of the damned), after the crucifixion, but before Easter Sunday. He is conducting the “harrowing” or plundering of hell, grasping Adam and Eve by the wrists and physically hauling them out of the grave. The devil and his instruments are crushed under the collapsed gates of hell, and the Old Testament prophets and patriarchs are in the wings being led out of the prison of death by the triumphant Lord in a great procession.
This now standard depiction in the Byzantine tradition differs greatly from the Renaissance and western tradition not only in the subject depicted. Again it is a symbolic representation of theological truths, where the previous examples are a naturalistic depiction of a past event, what you would see if you’d been there.
This icon of the Anastasis (anástasis [ανάσταση], "a raising up, removal") is what we call an iconographic prototype (see here, “Icons and copying” ); a model for iconographers to follow so the meaning of the icon is not distorted. You can see the same unmistakable pattern repeated in Anastasis icons from ancient times to our day.
We’ll continue below, but first, a poll…
Keeping in mind the “vision” or mission:
to help Latin Catholics and others in the English speaking world have a greater fluency in sacred art and general art history, to understand what they’re looking at; to gain a broader appreciation for what is out there in the tradition; to begin to approach the deeper meaning of Christian sacred art; to begin to integrate more fully traditional Christian sacred art into the practice of the Faith.
to promote traditional Christian sacred art for buyers and commissioners and sell my own painting and drawing work.
Click here to see my studio blog, Hilary White; Sacred Art, where you can follow my painting and drawing work, buy a print or other item from my shop, drop a one-off donation or even become a monthly patron for an amount you choose. Anyone who becomes a monthly donor for $9/month or more through the studio blog can receive a complimentary subscription here:
What do you guys like best so far? What do you think would be better as paid and as unpaid posts?
For both paid and unpaid subscribers, what category and type of article have you enjoyed most?
a lot of detailed, research and info-intense “pedagogical” school-teacher-y stuff about art history?
more reflective thoughtful stuff about the meaning and religious significance?
more in-person visits to interesting Things?
picture posts with short blurbs about when and where the art comes from?
Got any ideas or requests? Drop a note in the comments below.
Right… back to the post…
You can see elements of both the iconographic, symbolic prototypes and the later “historical” naturalistic representational style, in the great Christian art that followed the Renaissance.
Just for fun: I really like this little clip from a recent made-for-TV movie about the life of Christ that reminds me very much of the Rembrandt...
It’s also very much in the Protestant American tradition of depicting - covered with a thin film of cheese - things “you might have seen if you’d been there,” a modern development of the naturalistic Renaissance revolution away from theological symbolic art.
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More!
Guariento di Arpo, one of my favourite Trecento Italian painters shows his typical familiarity with both the Byzantine and western traditions.
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And of course the great Fra Angelico knew both as well…
I hope you enjoyed this little stroll through a brief history of depictions of the Resurrection. If you’d like more, please subscribe and emails will come twice a week into your inbox. If you’d like to receive the more in-depth posts for paid members, and other bonus material as it becomes available, I hope you’ll consider taking out a paid membership.
It’s just $9/month.
You can review the article we had a couple of months ago about the decision by the current Islamic supremacist government of Turkey to cover the icons and frescos of The Chora, (though thank God not destroy or remove them) and turn the ancient Christian site into a mosque.
Chora mosque: how to symbolically re-conquer and subjugate Christianity
If I asked you what’s the most important repository of Byzantine art in the world, you might say Hagia Sophia in Constantinop… Istanbul.
It's too bad your poll doesn't have a ranked choice, I'd put "in person" as #2, as it really helps to see these in situ. Seeing just the image on a screen does not necessarily convey its size, its position in a church, and what else might be nearby.
When I was moving out of Protestantism, it was the Chora Anastasis icon, particularly after living through my first Great Lent and Holy Week, that told me the Orthodox Church was what I had long been seeking. With that icon I began to see what "Christ is Risen" really meant.
I really love the icons where it looks like Jesus is glowing. Like if you were to hold the icon in a dark room, there would be light coming out of the icon.