그리스도의 부활(The resurrection of Christ). Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal Antwerpen(성모마리아 대성당). 안트웨르펜(Antwerpen)

그리스도의 부활(The resurrection of Christ).

Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedraal Antwerpen.

(Cathedral Of Our Lady. 성모마리아 대성당)

안트웨르펜(Antwerpen). 벨기에(Belgium)

Peter Paul Rubens
For the married couple Jan Moretus and Martina Plantin, of the renowned Antwerp Plantin-Moretus family of printers, Rubens painted this commemorative triptych in 1611-12 (central panel: 138 x 98 cm, side panels: 136 x 40 cm). Jan Moretus died in 1610. His widow, who commissioned the work, lived until 1616. The central panel shows Christ, to the alarm of the soldiers shrinking back in the darkness, strong and radiantly rising from his rocky tomb. This type of tomb was a novelty, since up until then it had been the practice in art to portray the tomb of Christ as a sarcophagus. On the side panels, Rubens has portrayed John the Baptist and St Martina, the patron saints of Jan and Martina Moretus. John stands on the bank of the Jordan; the sword on the ground refers to his beheading. St Martina holds a palm branch in her hand as a sign of her martyrdom. Behind her, one can see the broken fragments of the temple of the sun god Apollo, which is supposed to have collapsed when Martina made the sign of the cross. For the depiction of various figures in this triptych, Rubens was inspired by sculptures from antiquity. This is true for Christ and St Martina, and certainly also for the beautiful angels on the reverse of the side panels. The angels stand with their backs to a double door, which they seem about to open. Is it the door to eternal life?

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