Resurrección del Señor
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo·c. 1650
Historical Context
Resurrection of the Lord at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando depicts Christ's triumph over death — the central miracle of Christianity. Murillo's treatment combines the dramatic power required by the subject with the gentle luminosity that characterized his personal style. Murillo's warmly human religious paintings, with their characteristic soft light and accessible emotional register, made him the most popular Spanish painter in northern Europe during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, his work collected with avid enthusiasm in England and France.
Technical Analysis
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.
Look Closer
- ◆Notice the risen Christ emerging from the tomb in a burst of golden light — the soldiers recoiling in fear and confusion form a counter-movement that emphasizes the supernatural power of the Resurrection.
- ◆Look at Christ's white garments rendered with luminous warmth — Murillo uses the brightness of the risen body as the composition's primary light source.
- ◆Find the soldiers' varied reactions: some covering their eyes, some falling back, each expressing a different aspect of mortal encounter with the divine.
- ◆Observe the dynamic diagonal created by Christ's ascending figure against the darkness of the tomb opening below.
