Image source: wikiart.org
Introduction to “The Resurrection of Lazarus”
Peter Paul Rubens’s “The Resurrection of Lazarus” captures one of the most electrifying miracles in the New Testament with all the theatrical force of the Baroque. Christ, wrapped in a glowing red mantle, stands at the right edge of the canvas, arm extended in a commanding gesture. Opposite him, at the mouth of the tomb, the newly revived Lazarus struggles upright, his naked body partially covered by a white shroud held by an older man. Between them kneel and stand figures overwhelmed with awe, fear, and dawning faith.
Rubens does not show the miracle as something complete and serene; he paints it at the exact moment of transformation, when death loosens its grip and life surges back into Lazarus’s limbs. Gesture, light, and the press of bodies convey the shock of witnessing divine power at work in real time. The painting is less a quiet illustration of Scripture than an invitation to experience the story as if standing among the crowd in Bethany.
Biblical Story and Rubens’s Interpretation
The scene is based on the Gospel of John, chapter 11. Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, has died and been in the tomb four days when Jesus arrives. After weeping with the sisters, Christ goes to the grave and cries with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The dead man emerges still wrapped in grave clothes, and Jesus commands those standing by to unbind him. The miracle becomes a decisive sign of Christ’s authority over death and a prefiguration of his own resurrection.
Rubens condenses this narrative into a single visual instant. Lazarus has just responded to Christ’s call. His body, still partly swaddled in burial linen, is pulled upright from the darkness of the tomb. Christ’s arm is extended, fingers pointed emphatically toward him, and the reactions of those around range from incredulity to reverent wonder. The artist does not show the actual shout; instead he depicts the reverberation of that word as it ripples through the people, through Lazarus’s muscles, through the very air of the painting.
Composition and the Power of the Diagonal
The composition is anchored by a strong diagonal that runs from Christ’s head at the upper right down along his outstretched arm to Lazarus’s rising torso at the lower left. This line visually transmits power from the speaker to the one being called back to life. It is as if the gesture itself carries the miracle.
Around this main diagonal, Rubens arranges a swirl of secondary lines. The kneeling woman in the blue dress, most likely Mary or Martha, forms a counter-diagonal that leads from the lower center up toward Christ’s hand. Her posture directs our gaze from the miracle-worker back toward the tomb, creating a visual circuit of action and response.
The surrounding crowd frames the central drama. Dark-clothed men cluster behind Christ, their faces turned toward Lazarus. On the left, the older man hauling up the shroud leans forward, echoing the direction of Christ’s gesture. The overall effect is of a tightly packed stage in which every figure contributes to the momentum of the scene.
Christ as Source of Light and Authority
Rubens presents Christ as both gentle and authoritative. Draped in a voluminous red robe, he stands slightly elevated above the kneeling and bending figures. His head tilts toward Lazarus, and his gaze is focused, calm, and resolute. The red garment, catching the light, becomes the most saturated color in the painting, immediately drawing the viewer’s eye.
Light appears to emanate from Christ’s side of the composition. His face and robe are brightly illuminated, and this glow extends across his arm to touch the faces closest to him. The further one moves toward the tomb, the darker the tones become, as if the light of life is penetrating the shadows of death. Lazarus himself is bathed in a cooler, more subdued light that emphasizes the pallor of his skin, suggesting that he is in transition between the darkness of the grave and the warm vitality represented by Christ.
Christ’s right hand, with fingers delicately yet firmly extended, is central to the painting’s emotional and theological message. It is not a violent, commanding gesture but a poised, confident one, indicating that his authority over death is both absolute and effortless. The hand guides the viewer’s eye and symbolizes the word that calls Lazarus forth.
Lazarus: Between Death and Life
Lazarus emerges from the left side of the painting, his body bent forward as he braces himself on the rocky edge of the tomb. Rubens depicts him nude, which heightens both his vulnerability and the viewer’s awareness of his physical resurrection. Muscles are tense, veins subtly defined, yet his skin retains a corpse-like pallor. He looks toward Christ with an expression that mixes bewilderment, dawning awareness, and perhaps gratitude.
An elderly man, possibly a servant or relative, clutches the burial cloth wrapped around Lazarus. His hunched posture and effortful grip convey the weight and weakness of the newly revived body. The white cloth twists and bunches in his hands, catching the light and contrasting with the darker surroundings. This drapery is not just a practical detail; it symbolizes the lingering bonds of death that are about to be removed at Christ’s command to “unbind him.”
Lazarus’s posture—half-rising, half-supported—captures the liminal nature of the moment. He is no longer dead, but not yet fully restored. Rubens seizes this split second of transition, allowing the viewer to feel the shock and wonder of life’s return.
Mary, Martha, and the Human Response to Miracle
In the center foreground, a woman in a shimmering blue dress kneels with her back toward us, head turned toward Christ. Her dress catches the light, its fabric rendered with Rubens’s characteristic luxuriant brushwork. Another woman, likely the sister not in blue, stands slightly behind her, gazing intently with a hand touching her own chest, as if physically feeling the surge of emotion.
These women represent Mary and Martha, whose conversations with Jesus in the Gospel revolve around faith and grief. Rubens’s placement of them between Christ and Lazarus visually enacts their mediating role in the story. They are the ones who sent word to Jesus, who met him on the road, who expressed both belief and pain. Their bodies, stretched between Christ’s command and Lazarus’s response, embody the human drama of hope wrestling with despair.
The kneeling figure’s pose is particularly telling. Her body leans toward Christ while her head turns toward the tomb, as if torn between devotion to the miracle-worker and disbelief at what she is seeing. Her extended arm and gently open palm suggest both supplication and astonishment. Through her, Rubens invites viewers to occupy the same emotional space: caught between faith in divine power and the shock of seeing the impossible become real.
The Crowd and the Theater of Witnessing
Behind the principal figures, Rubens packs a dense cluster of onlookers. Their faces, illuminated by the same light that falls on Christ and Lazarus, form a chorus of reactions. Some peer forward skeptically, brows knitted. Others look wide-eyed, mouths slightly open. One man leans over another’s shoulder, straining to see clearly.
These varied expressions dramatize the range of responses to Christ’s miracles, from doubt to conviction. They also reinforce the painting’s sense of depth and space: the crowd recedes into the darkness, forming a living backdrop that pushes the main figures toward the viewer.
The inclusion of so many witnesses underscores the public nature of the miracle. This is not a private moment; it is a sign intended to provoke belief and controversy alike. Rubens, keenly aware of the Counter-Reformation emphasis on visible, tangible manifestations of divine power, uses the crowd to emphasize the event’s credibility and significance.
Light, Color, and Baroque Drama
Rubens orchestrates light and color with supreme skill to enhance the drama of “The Resurrection of Lazarus.” The painting operates on a strong contrast between illuminated flesh and deep, enveloping shadows. The background is largely dark, creating a stage-like setting. Against this darkness, the lit figures appear almost sculptural.
The most striking color is the rich red of Christ’s robe. This vivid hue symbolizes both his sacrificial love and his royal authority. It also acts as a compositional anchor, balanced by the cool blue of Mary or Martha’s gown in the foreground. The interplay between these complementary colors—red and blue—creates visual tension that mirrors the tension between death and life.
Flesh tones are warm and varied, from the youthfully smooth skin of Lazarus and the kneeling woman to the furrowed, weathered faces of the older men. White draperies, especially the shroud and the cloth around Christ’s arm, catch highlights and lead the eye across the painting. Rubens’s handling of fabric is lavish, with folds that twist and cascade, adding to the sense of movement and energy.
Space, Depth, and the Viewer’s Position
Despite the large number of figures, Rubens keeps the composition remarkably clear. The foreground is dominated by the central triangle formed by Christ, Lazarus, and the kneeling woman. Behind them, the crowd recedes in layers, with heads and shoulders overlapping. Rubens uses diminishing scale, softer focus, and deep shadow to suggest depth without sacrificing the intensity of the main action.
The painting is staged as if the viewer stands very close to the figures. Christ’s bare feet almost touch the edge of the canvas; Lazarus’s knee and the curve of his back project toward us. This proximity creates a sense of involvement. We are not distant observers but participants standing at the edge of the tomb, hearing the echoes of Christ’s command and the whispers of astonishment in the crowd.
The darkness behind the figures leaves the exact setting vague. There are hints of rocky walls and the opening of the tomb, but no detailed landscape. This abstraction focuses our attention on the human drama and allows the story to transcend a specific time and place, becoming a universal encounter between divine power and human mortality.
Theological and Symbolic Dimensions
Beyond its narrative content, “The Resurrection of Lazarus” carries deep theological symbolism. The miracle foreshadows Christ’s own resurrection, demonstrating his power over death and pointing toward the promise of eternal life. Lazarus, half-wrapped in burial cloths, becomes a living symbol of every believer called out of spiritual death.
The contrast of light and shadow underscores this symbolism. The tomb is a place of darkness, both literal and metaphorical, while Christ’s side of the painting is bathed in light. The miracle is a passage from one realm to another, and Rubens makes that passage visible.
The gestures of Mary and Martha signify faith that struggles and grows. Their presence reminds viewers that belief is often forged in the crucible of suffering and delay; Jesus arrived after Lazarus had died, yet still revealed a greater glory. By capturing the very moment when hope is vindicated, Rubens offers a visual meditation on perseverance and trust.
Rubens’s Baroque Vision and Artistic Context
This painting exemplifies Rubens’s fully developed Baroque style. He combines Italian influences—especially from Titian’s color and Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro—with his own Northern sensibility for texture and robust anatomy. The result is a picture that is both dramatically theatrical and deeply human.
The swirling arrangement of bodies, the intense focus on a single charged instant, and the invitation for viewers to feel themselves inside the story all align with the aims of Baroque religious art. In the wake of the Reformation, the Catholic Church encouraged artists to create images that moved the faithful emotionally and strengthened devotion. Rubens, a convinced Catholic and sometime diplomat, embraced this mission. “The Resurrection of Lazarus” is not just a beautiful painting; it is visual preaching, meant to instruct, inspire, and draw hearts toward the mystery of Christ.
Emotional Resonance for Modern Viewers
Even for viewers today who may not share Rubens’s religious background, the painting retains a powerful emotional charge. At its core, the scene is about the confrontation with death and the possibility of unexpected hope. The faces of Mary, Martha, and the onlookers express emotions that transcend time: grief, bewilderment, relief, and awe.
The physicality of Lazarus’s body, awkwardly rising from the tomb, speaks to human fragility. The commanding yet compassionate figure of Christ suggests the possibility of meaning and mercy in the face of mortality. The painting thus resonates with universal questions about life, death, and what might lie beyond.
Rubens’s artistry makes these themes tangible. His mastery of color, light, and composition ensures that the story is not merely told but felt. Standing before the painting, one senses the air thick with tension, hears the exclamations of the crowd, and almost feels the chill of the tomb giving way to the warmth of life.