The Resurrection

In this interpretation of a dramatic moment in Christian scripture, engraved by Phillips Galle after a drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder and published by Hieronymus Cock, Christ appears resurrected after his death, ascending from his tomb toward heaven.[1] On the ground below, soldiers fall in disbelief. An angel floats above, having just opened Christ’s tomb.

This impression of the print has been colored by an unknown artist. Thick layers of opaque watercolor have transformed the image, obscuring the printed lines and darkening the overall composition. Whereas the original, uncolored engraving (see 27.1.3) created drama through contrasting light and dark, the colored version uses gold and silver paint to create light. The sun and the halos around Christ and the angel have, for example, been painted with what appears to be thickly applied shell gold and now-tarnished silver stands in for highlights on the ridges of the folds in Christs's robes.

- Olivia Dill, May 23, 2023

[1] For a reproduction of the drawing and a discussion of its translation into print, see Nadine Orenstsein, ed., Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), cat. nos. 96 and 97, pp. 221-224.