Resurrection

Matthias Grünewald painted this Resurrection around 1515 as part of the Isenheim Altarpiece for the Unterlinden Museum. The Resurrection panel provides the triumphant counterpoint to the harrowing Crucifixion, depicting Christ bursting from the tomb in an explosion of supernatural light that has no parallel in Western art. The oil medium allowed for rich tonal transitions and glazed layers of color that created luminous depth impossible with the older tempera technique. Such devotional panels served both liturgical contexts in churches and chapels and private devotional use in the homes of wealthy families who maintained personal altars and oratories.

Grünewald achieves an unprecedented visual representation of divine radiance, with the risen Christ's body dissolving into pure light against the midnight sky, using color theory and atmospheric effects far ahead of their time to create a genuinely transcendent image.