Jesus lies with his eyes closed.
Bible in art · Matthew
Jesus Ministered to by Angels (Jésus assisté par les anges)
James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York
After the temptations Tissot painted Jesus lying exhausted on the ground in his white robe, eyes closed, one arm thrown out.
Out of the darkness around him crowd dozens of grey angels with long reaching arms, each with a small white flame over its head. Their hands touch and lift his body. It is one of the strangest sheets of the series: almost black, with only the white of the robe and the little flames shining.
From the text
- “the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him” (Matthew 4:11)
- The forty days of fasting in the wilderness before it (Matthew 4:2)
The artist’s own
- A crowd of angels with flames over their heads
- Jesus lying worn out on the bare ground
Details
His face
The sash
A pale yellow sash on the white robe.
The angels
Grey faces, each with a white flame, crowd in from the dark.
Reaching hands
Long thin arms stretch out to touch him.
James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.54) · 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".