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Caravaggio lazarus7/10/2023 ![]() Only the extended hand of Christ counters the stark reality of death. Where another artist would have placed a celestial scene, an angel or a saint, there is only darkness. But here an overarching darkness extends across the whole top half of the canvas. Both pictures share a dark interior with brightly-lit figures arranged in a frieze like manner. The raised arm of Christ and the hand with the index finger extended is surely the same as in “The Call of Matthew”. Indeed, in this picture Caravaggio may be drawing on certain Byzantine icons of Mary holding her son, for there was an Orthodox community in Messina. The closeness of the heads of Lazarus and Martha recalls so many depictions of Mary and Jesus in which she holds him in death, their faces pressed together, their lips close as if they shared a common breath. The shroud held beneath the body of Lazarus recalls “The Entombment of Christ” which Caravaggio had painted for the Chiesa Nuova in Rome, especially the detail of the hand supporting the side nearest the heart. In fact, this painting looks more like deposition or an entombment than the raising of a dead man to life. ![]() Indeed, they decided that Lazarus should die also (Jn 12:11) because for many he was a living sign of Jesus’ miraculous power. In the Gospel of John the raising of Lazarus is a key reason why the enemies of Jesus resolve to put him to death (Jn 11:53). In this way, the transition from death to life happening within Lazarus is symbolised, but the cruciform shape of Lazarus’ body also prefigures the cross of Christ. Is she listening for his breath? One of Lazarus’ arms seems to reach up to the light whilst the other falls down towards a skull lying on the ground. Is he waiting to feel a heart beat? Martha, the sister of Lazarus, holds his head close to hers. His hand touches the body of Lazarus quite near the heart. The grave digger is lifting him up and supporting his body at an angle with a knee under his hip and an arm behind his shoulder blades. ![]() The body of Lazarus looks stiff, as if from rigor mortis. Raking light picks out the body of Lazarus, which truth be told, shows little sign of life as yet. In this work for a church in the Sicilian town of Messina, Jesus is on the left with his arm outstretched as he Lazarus is lifted from a tomb. The gospel for her feast day is John 11:19 -27, in which she professes faith in Jesus, before he raises Lazarus from the dead. On Wednesday, we celebrate the feast day of St Martha, who was the sister of Lazarus. “The Raising of Lazarus”, Caravaggio, 1609, Museo Regionale, Messina Sicily. ![]()
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