Resurrection of Lazarus

Painted around 1510 for the Convent of Christ in Tomar, the Resurrection of Lazarus depicts one of Christ's most dramatic miracles — raising a man four days dead from his tomb outside Bethany. For a military-religious order whose members risked death in crusading and overseas missions, a scene of literal resurrection carried extraordinary theological force. Jorge Afonso's workshop narrative scene would have shown the moment Lazarus emerged wrapped in burial cloths from the rock tomb at Christ's command, with surrounding figures divided between astonishment and reverence — offering viewers a gallery of human reactions to the miraculous.

Oil on panel with the multi-figure narrative composition characteristic of Flemish-influenced Portuguese altarpiece painting. The rock tomb, the crowd of witnesses including Martha and Mary, and the central figure of Lazarus rising while Christ commands the scene require careful spatial and figural organization at large panel scale.