The Resurrection

Christ rises from the open tomb in a blaze of divine light, his halo throwing the scene into dazzling relief: an angel lifts the heavy stone lid as terror-stricken soldiers recoil — one sprawls on the ground with an arm raised as if to ward off the miracle, another shields his eyes, a third sleeps beneath a plumed hat — while in the distance the three Marys approach through the rays of the rising sun. “His countenance was as lightning, and his raiment as snow,” the Gospel records. Pieter Lastman, the Amsterdam master famed as Rembrandt’s teacher, set the light of redemption against the shadow of the unredeemed in saturated colour and bold, expressive gesture, bringing a direct emotional conviction to the miracle. The painting is held in the J. Paul Getty Museum.