Resurrection of Christ

   The moment when Christ resuscitates and emerges from his tomb, triumphant over death. The scene is often depicted in art, with Christ usually shown stepping out of his sarcophagus while holding a banner that symbolizes his triumph. On the tomb lean sleeping soldiers ordered by Pontius Pilate to guard the site. Andrea del Castagno included a Resurrection scene with these elements among his refectory frescoes in the Monastery of Sant' Apollonia, Florence (1447), as did Hans Pleydenwurff on one of the panels of the Hof Altarpiece (c. 1470; Munich, Alte Pinakothek) and Dirk Bouts in his panel in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena (c. 1455). Piero della Francesca's Resurrection of c. 1458 (San Sepolcro, Museo Civico) painted for the San Sepolcro town hall also includes these elements and represents the coat-of-arms of San Sepolcro (Holy Sepulcher) said to have been founded by two pilgrims who brought relics from Christ's tomb to the town. Mathias Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece (fin. 1515; Colmar, Musée d'Uterlinden) does not include the banner, though the resurrected Christ is enclosed in a magnificent halo of red and yellow, a symbol of hope to those who suffered at the Hospital of the Order of St. Anthony in Isenheim, the work's original location.