Vitale da Bologna and Workshop
The Resurrection (The Three Marys)
Circa 1351-60
Fresco
Pomposa Abbey, Codigoro, Italy
In the synoptic gospels a number of women approach the tomb on Sunday. Matthew says there were two women, both named Mary; Mark lists three or four, depending on the punctuation, at least three named Mary; in Luke there are two Marys and a Joanna. At any rate, when they arrive Jesus is gone and an angel in white tells them to take the news to the disciples.
All the gospels speak of the tomb as if it were a sort of cave, with a stone rolled in front of it after Jesus was laid to rest. Only Matthew mentions guards, and they are not asleep but stunned into a sort of coma by the Resurrection event. Nevertheless, images in this era mostly portray a sepulcher like the one seen here, and in many the guards seem to have fallen asleep on the job.
View this image in full resolution.
View the other panels in the Pomposa Abbey frescos.
Read more about images of the Resurrection.
Photographed at the site by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.