Resurrección del Señor

The Resurrección del Señor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando depicts Christ's triumph over death — the central miracle of Christianity and the theological foundation on which all Counter-Reformation claims about eternal life and the efficacy of sacramental grace rested. Murillo treated the Resurrection relatively rarely compared to his many depictions of the Passion, Nativity, and Marian subjects; his natural gifts lay with subjects of intimacy, tenderness, and contemplative beauty rather than the triumphant drama that the Resurrection demanded. His treatment here emphasises the luminous aspect of the Risen Christ — the body transformed by divine glory rather than the physical specificity of wounds and empty tomb that more dramatic treatments exploited. The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, founded by Philip V in 1752 and holding extensive collections of Spanish art from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, preserves this as part of its comprehensive documentation of Spanish Baroque religious painting.

The risen Christ emerges from the tomb in a burst of golden light, the soldiers below recoiling in fear and confusion. The ascending figure's white garments are rendered with luminous warmth, while the dark foreground creates dramatic contrast.