The Resurrection

Poetic in conception and innovative in composition, this painting is a masterpiece of Sienese fifteenth-century painting. In this scene, the still sleepy soldiers are amazed to see the risen Christ float gloriously above the sealed sarcophagus, holding the banner of victory and the olive branch of peace. The extensive landscape is both naturalistic and symbolic: the Resurrection is equated with the sunrise, perhaps the first such depiction in Italian painting. Originally this was one of five small panels of an altarpiece dedicated to the Passion of Christ.

Paintings of this time were not signed, so names of artists are frequently unknown. This artist is called the Master of the Osservanza from...