Resurrection of Christ

The relief with The Resurrection scene belongs to a cycle of relief paintings on the Passion theme, which once filled the cupboard of a triptych set up as the main altar in St. Mary's Church in Wkryujście. The incomplete representation shows an iconographic variant of the theme, typical for Western European art, developed around the 12th century. At that time, the person of Jesus, whose body bears traces of crucifixion, coming out triumphantly from the tomb and making a gesture of blessing, began to be accompanied by guards as the event witnesses. Typically, one of them - the vigilant one - with a gesture of an outstretched hand tries to wake up the other one, who is in a deep sleep. The mystery of the Resurrection is a fundamental event, constitutive for the Christian church. The motif of the empty tomb is a symbol and, at the same time, proof that Christ rose from the dead. According to the Scriptures, Christ suffered a martyr's sacrifice and defeated death, bringing Salvation. Additional proof of the Resurrection in these representations is also an angel, a messenger of God. In this way, the iconography of the Resurrection carried and authenticated the content of the truth of faith. The angel in the Wkryujście painting was probably present on the right side of the representation, which has not been preserved. In his compositions, the master of this altarpiece uses many graphic patterns popular at the turn of the 15th/16th century. In the piece of the Resurrection, he draws inspiration from a copperplate engraving of a south German graphic artist of the end of the 15th century called Monogramist AG. The angel in the German master's painting stands on the right behind the sarcophagus, lifting its upper panel, which is fragmentarily preserved on the sculptural representation from Wkryujście, just above the sleeping soldier.

Kinga Krasnodębska