Resurrection of Lazarus

Leandro Bassano's Resurrection of Lazarus of 1610, held at the Gallerie dell'Accademia, belongs to a series of late works in which Leandro returned to major Gospel miracle subjects. The Raising of Lazarus — John 11 — was among the most dramatic of Christ's miracles, combining elements of grief, faith, and sudden divine intervention in a single narrative. It also provided painters with opportunities to represent the widest range of human responses: the mourning sisters Mary and Martha, the skeptical and astonished crowd, the emerging figure of Lazarus bound in grave clothes, and the commanding figure of Christ. Leandro's late style, visible in this 1610 canvas, shows the looser, more atmospheric handling of his maturity, with forms dissolving somewhat at their edges into the ambient light rather than being sharply defined as in earlier work.

Oil on canvas, this late work shows a more painterly, atmospheric approach than Leandro's earlier manner. Forms are suggested through warm light and shadow rather than insisted upon through sharp outlines. The palette remains warm and Venetian but is handled with greater freedom. The multi-figure composition is organized around the focal contrast between the emerging Lazarus and the pointing figure of Christ.