A calm face under a white veil.
Bible in art · John
Mary Magdalene Questions the Angels in the Tomb (Madeleine dans le tombeau interroge les anges)
James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York
Mary Magdalene crouches in the low doorway of the tomb, wrapped in a striped mantle, and stretches out her hand as she looks in. In the foreground, filling the left half of the sheet, stand two tall angels made of thin white veils and light.
Their faces are calm and turned aside; their robes fall in long transparent folds. Tissot set the dark brown rock of the tomb against their whiteness.
From the text
- “she bent down to look into the tomb” (John 20:11)
- “she saw two angels in white” (John 20:12)
- “Woman, why are you weeping?” (John 20:13)
The artist’s own
- The angels shown standing in front, in the foreground
- Mary crouching in the doorway
Details
An angel
The second angel
Another face with fair hair behind.
Mary Magdalene
She crouches in the doorway and reaches out.
Inside the tomb
The dark chamber behind her.
James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.333) · 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".