By Anne Leader
Happy Easter (Buona Pasqua) from the Italian Art Society! Today Western Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. Though not as common as images of the Crucifixion, the events of Easter appear frequently in Italian art. Recorded in all four Gospels, the Resurrection itself was not witnessed and therefore was not visualized by artists until the 12th century. The Noli Me Tangere — Do not Touch Me — and the Doubting Thomas, were other common images designed to celebrate the Risen Christ.
Piero della Francesca, Resurrected Christ, fresco, 1463-5, Pinacoteca Communale, Sansepolcro
Pietro Lorenzetti, Resurrection, c. 1320, fresco, Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi
Fra Angelico, Resurrection of Christ and Women at the Tomb (Cell 8), 1440-42, fresco, San Marco, Florence
Vecchietta, The Resurrection, 1472, bronze, The Frick Collection, New York
Luca della Robbia, Resurrection, 1442-5, glazed terra cotta, Florence, Duomo
Michelangelo, The Resurrection (recto, detail), 1531-32, black chalk, traces of red chalk, Royal Collection, Windsor
Agnolo Bronzino, Resurrection, 1552, oil on canvas, Santissima Annunziata, Florence
Giotto, Noli me tangere, 1305, fresco, Scrovegni Chapel, Padua
Fra Angelico, Noli me Tangere, ca. 1430, illuminated manuscript, Missal 558, fol. 64v
Andrea del Verrocchio, Doubting Thomas, bronze, 1476-83, Orsanmichele, Florence