LAZARUS IN SCRIPTURE
Images of the raising of Lazarus always have Jesus standing a bit apart from Lazarus and gesturing to him. The youthful, beardless Lazarus always stands wrapped in his grave cloths – with his face showing, although the text says it was covered.
In early images such as the sarcophagus relief at right, Jesus is also youthful and beardless. Sometimes he gestures with a wand, a common device in the early art for showing that a miracle is occurring, as in this example. In other cases he raises his hand with the fingers in blessing configuration (example). In John 11 Lazarus has been laid to rest in a "monument" (Latin monumentum, Greek μνημειον), but when Jesus arrives the text says, "it was a cave." The early images compromise the two terms by showing a temple-like structure built into a mountainside, as at right and in this example.
Medieval artists continue to show Lazarus wrapped in grave cloths. They abandon the wand and usually have Jesus' fingers configured as in blessing. They also often add more of the details from John's text, as in the Giotto's fresco at right. They usually have Martha and Mary, the two sisters of Lazarus, kneel before Jesus, and they include the crowd and at least some of the apostles. In the picture at right and also in another in Assisi, Giotto places two apostles among those taking the body from the tomb, identified by halos.
In his fresco, Giotto even finds a way to express Martha's worry that Lazarus will "stink" if taken out of the tomb. Members of the crowd closest to him cover their noses with cloths. Another image adds the detail of Lazarus' hands being bound and of Martha's rushing out to greet Jesus as he approaches the town.
The tomb is also treated differently in medieval works. In the Latin west Lazarus is sometimes taken up from a horizontal sarcophagus, resembling the one from which Christ himself will be resurrected (example). In one case the artist compromised by having Lazarus emerge from both a sarcophagus and a monumentum. In the narthex at St. Mark's, Venice, Peter helps him come up from a grave that is rather like a manhole.
Orthodox icons often follow these two options also, but many of them continue to depict a temple-like structure behind Lazarus. They also commonly include the kneeling Mary and Martha.
LAZARUS IN THE GOLDEN LEGEND
The Golden Legend's life of St. Martha has her travel with Lazarus and Mary Magdalene to France, where they convert many to Christianity. The hanging shown at right is an example of images of their journey. (For the origin of this legend see this paragraph in my page on Mary Magdalene.)
Prepared in 2014 by Richard Stracke, Emeritus Professor of English, Augusta University. Revised 2017-01-17.
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The earliest Lazarus images were in catacombs and looked like this one from the Catacomb of the Giordani. (Source: Diglot.)
Numerous sarcophagi in the 3rd and 4th centuries followed the pattern of the catacombs images. See the description page for a complete explanation of sarcophagus scenes of this type and the list below of other examples from these centuries.
Giotto, The Raising of Lazarus, 1304-1306 (See description page)
Lazarus arrives in France with his sisters (See description page)
IN 3RD- & 4TH-CENTURY SARCOPHAGI
- The Sarcophagus of Marcus Claudianus, Palazzo Massimo, Rome
- Sarcophagus Frontal with Scenes from the Lives of St. Peter and Jesus, Metropolitan Museum, New York City
- The Sarcophagus of Two Brothers, Museo Pio Cristiano, The Vatican
- The Ludovisi Sarcophagus, Museo Pio Cristiano, The Vatican
- The Dogmatic Sarcophagus, Museo Pio Cristiano, The Vatican
- Sarcophagus Lid, Museo Pio Cristiano, The Vatican
- In this double-register sarcophagus in the the Vatican Museums Christ raises Lazarus with a blessing gesture rather than a rod of authority.
OTHER IMAGES
- 5th century: An image of Jesus raising Lazarus in a panel in an ivory diptych from Ravenna has Lazarus in the kind of temple often pictured in the sarcophagi.
- 1512-31: In this panel in the main retable at Oviedo Cathedral, Lazarus rises from a sarcophagus on the ground and there is no cave.
- Early 16th century: A Spanish portrait of Lazarus with his two sisters.
DATES
- Feast day: December 17
BIOGRAPHY