A pale face looks straight out from the light.
Bible in art · Matthew
The Angel Seated on the Stone of the Tomb (L'ange assis sur la pierre du tombeau)
James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York
Through the dark frame of the tomb’s doorway we see an angel made of light: a tall figure drawn in fine white lines, with great wings folded down to the ground, standing calmly and looking straight out.
At the left the stone bench of the tomb is lit up pale and empty but for the faint shape of folded cloths. Tissot painted almost the whole sheet in greys and whites.
From the text
- “an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it” (Matthew 28:2)
- “his clothes were white as snow” (Matthew 28:3)
The artist’s own
- The angel drawn as a figure of light
- The view through the tomb doorway
Details
The angel’s face
The wings
Long wings fall to the ground.
The bench
A pale stone bench inside the tomb.
James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.330) · Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper · Brooklyn Museum (Commons file page, «Permission»): "This image was uploaded by the Brooklyn Museum as a content partnership, and is considered to have no known copyright restrictions by the institutions of the Brooklyn Museum." — "No known copyright restrictions".