Rembrandt Harmensz Van Rijn (1606-1669),
Raising of Lazarus, c.1632, etching, 14 5/8 x 10 3/16 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, purchase/gift of the Mahonri M. Young Estate.
To honor Rembrandt's birthday tomorrow, we contemplate one of his most powerful etchings, the luminous Raising of Lazarus. Jesus’ commanding gesture forms the apex of a triangle that extends down to the brightly illuminated Lazarus and outwards to onlookers. The gathered mourners and the disciples grouped behind Christ respond in shock. Lazarus' temporary return to mortality was the greatest of the miracles, and a prelude to Christ's incomparable and everlasting victory over death.