Scripture · Luke 24:1-12
Luke 24:5-7
The Resurrection, Isenheim Altarpiece
As the women bowed their faces to the ground in terror, the two men asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’”
The risen Christ appears within a globe of light above the tomb, while guards lie fallen beneath him.
About the artwork
The burial cloth still reaches down into the tomb, but it changes as it rises: blue folds turn white and then red near Christ’s body. Below, armored men tumble or huddle against the ground; above, the raised palms show wounds within an almost weightless glow. The picture keeps a visible connection with the buried and injured body even as its color and movement announce transformation.
This panel belongs to the Isenheim Altarpiece, made in 1512–1516 for a monastery whose community cared for the sick. Now in the Unterlinden Museum, the folding work offered different arrangements of sacred scenes. Its Resurrection stands in powerful relation to its suffering Crucifixion, bringing bodily affliction and transformed life within the same devotional object.
Featured in: The Mysteries of the Rosary in Art: 20 Paintings, One for Each Mystery
What does Luke 24:5-7 mean?
Luke 24:1–12 describes the women arriving at the tomb and finding the body absent. Two men in radiant clothing tell them that Jesus has risen and recall his earlier words. The women then carry the news to the apostles. Luke presents the discovery and announcement rather than an eyewitness account of the instant of rising.
Grünewald depicts that unseen event through a radiant ascending body. The guards and dramatic emergence belong to the wider visual tradition of the Resurrection. The paired verses explain what the image proclaims, while their narrative viewpoint remains with the women who encounter the empty tomb afterward.
The radiant figure visualizes the Resurrection proclaimed to the women in Luke, while the painting imagines the event they did not witness.
Sources
The Mysteries of the Rosary in Art: 20 Paintings, One for Each Mystery. Artwork reading adapted from this guide.
Luke 24 — Berean Standard Bible. Context for Luke 24:5–7.
Also from Luke:The Angel Appearing to ZachariasAnnunciation