Statuary serves its role in the church primarily through the Crucifix: prominently displayed in almost every sanctuary and Catholic home. Although there are some statues of the Risen Christ, they do not find nearly as much prominence (and we won’t even speak of the attempts to combine the imagery of the crucifixion and resurrection).
Even in the fine arts, we find a dearth of sculpture depicting the Resurrection. As there is no shortage of paintings, there must be a reason in the medium itself. Sculptors must have hesitated to depict the movement and spiritual dynamism of the event, as well as the exit from the sepulcher and scene of soldiers. Medieval artists found it easier to depict the scene in relief, however, rather than free standing statues. Here are a few examples: a 5th century ivory Gospel cover, the tympanum of the Worms Cathedral, and a 15th century alabaster altarpiece from England:
Like the ivory Gospel cover, Byzantine iconography depicts the risen Jesus as fully clothed in white robes, symbolized the divine light and life that triumphs over death. Western imagery emphasizes the body of Christ, as if to use His risen body as an image of renewed humanity. Typically, Jesus has a robe draped over his body, either for modesty or in royal fashion, though either way the bodily dimension of the resurrection comes to forefront.
Michelangelo’s statue, Risen Christ (1521), was a commissioned as a nude statue, though a small loincloth now adorns it, to the left of the altar at S. Maria sopra Minerva in Rome. The attribution of the statue to the resurrection was not the master’s, though a naked Christ holding the cross, as well as a staff (containing a banner in many images) seems to fit. He also holds a rope, which could connect to the Byzantine image of the devil bound under the feet of the risen Christ or as a further symbol of the Passion. The nakedness of Christ stems from the tradition, visible at the end of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, that his burial cloths remained intact as Christ passed through them. They also provided Michelangelo the opportunity to highlight the perfection of the male body, as well as some motion, with Christ positioned in contrapposto, highlighting his twisted torso. The statue clearly demonstrates the triumph of Christ’s glorified bodied.
Though not well known today compared to his other sculptures, Michelangelo’s statue gained attention in its day, including from Francs I, king of France, who was particularly impressed by its torso and obtained a copy of it. His son’s widow, Catherine de’ Medici, commissioned a risen Christ to adorn her mausoleum shared with Henry II. She commissioned Germain Pilon (1525-90), who completed statues of the couple which remain part of the existing funerary monument in the Basilica of St. Denis, just north of Paris. Pilon’s Resurrection of Christ never made it out of his workshop, though it now sits in the Louvre.
We can see the influence of Michelangelo’s torso in the figure. Furthermore, Pilon successfully captures the motion of the Resurrection, as Christ seems to come forth from the unfinished rock behind him, gesturing forward in a way that approaches the viewer. He is bringing forth a new humanity, and the Michelangelo-inspired body helps to capture this perfection. This transformed humanity passed by the cowering soldiers, as one recoils in apparent agony or fear and the other stares away in seeming indifference.
The statue combines classical perfection with approachability. The gesture of the statue calls us to participate in the new humanity offered by the risen Christ. The contrast to the other figures clearly shows His triumph over death and the old man. The statue, created for a tomb, also represents Christian hope, even for the particularities of our human nature, which Pilon captured meticulously, such as in Christ’s hair and beard.
Although not the preferred medium to capture the Resurrection, three dimensional statues communicate bodiliness well, making space to recognize the reality of Christ’s resurrected humanity. Sculpture suits the Western depiction of the Resurrection in particular, which seeks to capture this new humanity in its naked form, as if to say: this is the new Adam coming forth from the second garden. Christ’s body is our hope for the transformation of our own bodies in eternal life.
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