Flügelaltar: Die Auferstehung Christi und alttestamentarische Vorbilder

This winged altarpiece from 1535, now at the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, depicts the Resurrection of Christ alongside Old Testament typological prefigurations — the format known as Biblia pauperum, in which New Testament events are illustrated alongside their prophetic counterparts from the Hebrew scriptures. Pieter Coecke van Aelst, who had trained partly in Brussels under Bernard van Orley and spent time in Rome absorbing Italian Renaissance models, was well equipped to handle such theologically complex programmes. The altarpiece format — a central panel flanked by hinged wings — was the dominant vehicle for Flemish devotional painting throughout the late medieval and Renaissance periods, providing a narrative structure that could be revealed or concealed according to liturgical seasons. Coecke's Resurrection reflects the particular challenge of this subject: unlike the Crucifixion or Nativity, the Resurrection is not described in the Gospels but inferred, requiring painters to invent a visual formula. His solution draws on Italian models — the triumphant rising Christ, the startled guards — while maintaining Flemish materiality in the rendering of armour, cloth, and landscape.

The altarpiece format imposes a tripartite visual rhythm that Coecke resolves through colour coordination: the central Resurrection panel uses the brightest whites and golds, while the Old Testament flanking scenes are in slightly more subdued tones that subordinate them to the New Testament fulfilment.