Auferstehung des Lazarus

The Raising of Lazarus

Christ speaks, and Lazarus awakens from death (John 11:1-44). Still stiff with rigor mortis, he stares at his saviour in shock. The apostles and other bystanders react with everything from reverence to horror. Some are debating what has happened while others hold their noses at the stench from the tomb. Lazarus's sister Mary, in yellow, kneels, and his other sister, Martha, in red and lilac, recoils. The variety of responses is an invitation for the viewer to participate in contemplation and discussion. Michelangelo, Sebastiano's friend and collaborator, designed the tense, muscular figure of Lazarus and the workmanlike attendants removing his burial shroud.