page_title: Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art
section_title: Christology and iconography
hierarchical_section_title: Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art / Christology and iconography
context_page_description: The Resurrection of Jesus has long been central to Christian faith and Christian art, whether as a single scene or as part of a cycle of the Life of Christ. In the teachings of the traditional Christian churches, the sacraments derive their saving power from the passion and resurrection of Christ, upon which the salvation of the world entirely depends. The redemptive value of the resurrection has been expressed through Christian art, as well as being expressed in theological writings.
  However, the moment of the Resurrection is not described as such in the Gospels, and for over a thousand years it was therefore not represented directly in art. Instead at first it was represented by symbolic depictions such as the Chi Rho, the first two Greek letters of Christ, encircled by a wreath symbolizing the victory of resurrection over death. Later various scenes that are described in the Gospels were used, and also the Harrowing of Hell, which is not. In Byzantine and later Eastern Orthodox art this has remained the case, but in the West the depiction of the actual moment of Resurrection became common during the Gothic period.
context_section_description: The development of iconography of the Resurrection occurred at the same time as the ecumenical councils of the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries, that were specifically devoted to Christology. The next stage in the development of the image was the use of the  secondary event of the visit of the Three Marys (usually two in early depictions), or the Myrrhbearers as they are known in Eastern Orthodoxy, at the empty tomb of Jesus to convey the concept of the Resurrection; this was included in all four Gospels.  One of the earliest depictions of the scene is an ivory plaque of c. 400 AD, already including the sleeping guards who were to become a standard element in later depictions, with an Ascension scene above.
  The late 6th-century Rabbula Gospel book which includes one of the earliest Crucifixion sequences in a manuscript also depicts an empty tomb under the Crucifixion panel, with an angel seated there who greets two women. Rays of light strike down Roman soldiers, and Jesus greets the two women, who kneel to adore him. Several of the 6th-century pilgrimage souvenir Monza ampullae show the two women and angel, reflecting the scene pilgrims to Christ's tomb saw in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, including a quasi-liturgical re-enactment of this scene apparently staged there. From the second half of the 7th century, depictions of a risen Christ walking in the garden start to appear in conjunction with the two women and the angel in Western art. Later depictions of the Women at the Sepulchre have also apparently been influenced by quasi-liturgical re-enactments; in Western monasteries monks dressed as the angel and the women and re-enacted the scene on Easter morning, which was called the Visitatio.
  Other scenes from the Gospels are the Noli me tangere, where Mary Magdalen mistakes Christ for a gardener, the scene of Doubting Thomas, and the Meal at Emmaus, the first post-Resurrection scene in the Gospel of Luke.  The famous Romanesque reliefs of c. 1100 in the cloister of the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos devote large panels to both the Doubting Thomas scene, enacted with not only all the Apostles present, but also St Paul, and the Meeting on the Road to Emmaus. These two scenes, preceded by a Crucifixion and Deposition and followed by a Pentecost and Ascension, are the only large panels in the Romanesque phase of work. Occasionally other scenes are shown; in John 20:3–10 he is the first to check that the tomb is empty. A capital in Toulouse shows the empty tomb with John peering in from behind a column, and raising his hand in astonishment. The Resurrection was also referred to by showing typological parallels, such as Jonah and the Whale (which was supported by Matthew 12:38–41 and Luke 11:29–32), the Resurrection of Lazarus, and other Old Testament episodes.
  Between the 6th and 9th centuries, the iconography of the Resurrection in the Eastern Church was influenced by the iconography of the Transfiguration, given that there was no scriptural guidance for the depiction of the Resurrection scene. In traditional Orthodox iconography the actual moment of the Resurrection of Christ ("Anabasis") is never depicted, unlike the treatment of the raising of Lazarus. The icons do not depict the moment of the Resurrection, but show the Myrrhbearers, or the Harrowing of Hell. Usually the resurrected Christ is rescuing Adam and Eve, and often other figures, symbolizing the salvation of humanity. His posture is often very active, paralleling the Western depictions that show him climbing out of the tomb.
  The cosmic significance of the Resurrection in Western theology goes back to Saint Ambrose who in the 4th century said that "In Christ the world has risen, heaven has risen, the earth has risen". However, this theme was only developed later in Western theology and art. It was, a different matter in the East where the Resurrection was linked to redemption, and the renewal and rebirth of the whole world from a much earlier period. In art this was symbolized by combining the depictions of the Resurrection with the Harrowing of Hell
caption: Raising Adam and Eve, with Satan is bound in Hell, Chora Church, Istanbul, c. 1315[13]
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