Angels in art; Christian art and symbolism; Painting -- Reproduction
these men; by which means the figures of Jesus and the angel are made to
appear as secondary. I have seen no picture in which the sleeping
disciples are satisfactorily introduced, and I greatly prefer certain
curious ancient representations of the Agony, in which Christ and the
angel only are present.
Many famous artists, from the time of Mantegna, have painted their
conceptions of the wonderful scene in the Garden. Correggio has at least
made Jesus the chief person, and his angel is apparently suited to his
office of a comforter. Paul Veronese, Albert Dürer, and Rembrandt have
all painted powerful pictures of this subject, and Ary Scheffer has
depicted the Agony of Christ with living vividness; but one and all of
these works fall so far short of one’s highest conception of this
wonderful event, that, except as examples of the design, coloring, and
manner of these masters, they appear to me of little value.
The visit of the women to the sepulchre of Christ is variously
represented, as would naturally result from the different accounts given
by the Evangelists. Some pictures represent Mary Magdalene alone, when
she saw two angels sitting where the body of Christ had lain, and almost
immediately beheld the risen Lord near by, as in our illustration after
Burne-Jones. Again, the other women are pictured who saw two men in
shining garments, and were told, “He is not here, but is risen;” more
frequently the three Maries are represented coming to the sepulchre,
bearing spices, and finding the guards paralyzed with terror, and an
angel who tells them that the Lord is risen.
These scenes have been represented in Art from its earliest and rudest
beginning, and were rendered with perfect simplicity, strictly
following the clear scriptural account. Later, the guards were omitted,
and the whole scene took on a more dramatic air, until, in the sixteenth
century, this subject was rarely painted, and has not again resumed its
earlier importance. It makes one in a series of subjects illustrating
the life of Christ, but is rarely seen as a separate work. Annibale
Caracci painted a picture of the Women at the Sepulchre, which is now in
the Hermitage at St. Petersburg; and in Siena there still exists an
example of the same subject by Duccio, who lived in the thirteenth
century.
Pictures of the Last Judgment, as usually painted, are illustrative of a
combination of scriptural teaching with the imaginative suggestions of
preachers, writers on religious subjects, poets, and artists, and
elements from the sacred legends. There is no scriptural warrant for the
presence of Satan and his demons in this scene, horribly effective and
impressive as they are; but I have reason to think that this element is
thoughtlessly accepted as authoritative by many who interest themselves
in religious art.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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