Resurrection of Christ – Metropolitan Museum – New York
The small panel, along with four other panels depicting episodes from the life of Christ, currently preserved at the Art Institute of Chicago, once constituted a part of the predella of an unidentified altarpiece, whose theme was probably the Crucifixion or the Deposition from the Cross: it is therefore thought that the panels could be referred to the Pala Chigi, whose predella was actually lost during the architectural reconstruction of the church of Sant’Agostino in Siena.
The subject of the painting is the Resurrection of Christ, who is represented triumphantly as he comes out of the tomb on which he stands as if it was a pedestal, while the tombstone is removed to allow him the passage.
The bare torso is portrayed following the ideals of classical statuary, while the legs are covered by a red stole hanging from the right shoulder; in the left hand he holds the stick from which he waves a banner.
Around him, the dormant soldiers seem unaware of what it is happening: only one of them turns to Christ in a sign of surprise seeing him risen.
The scene is set in a country landscape, where in the background gentle hills fade into haze recreating the effect of an infinite space thanks to the technique of aerial perspective.
The panel is preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
