Happy Easter Saturday! or, The Harrowing of Hell

Have you ever wondered what Jesus Christ was doing in between his death on the cross (Good Friday) and his resurrection (Easter  Sunday)?

Well, he was down in hell.  Rescuing some of the worthy souls trapped down there and taking them straight to Heaven.  Eve, Abraham and Adam were all included.

This is called the Harrowing of Hell (or anastasis in Greek - I just love that word).

The Harrowing of Hell.  Manuscript illumination, from f.54r of MS K.21,
Canticles, Hymns and Passion of St Christ, late 13th/early 14th C.
Source:  Collection of St John's College Library, Cambridge

I'm not 100% sure of the iconography but it looks to me as if Christ is standing on the instruments of his torture (planks from the cross).  I don't know what the symbols on the planks stand for.  He's wrapped his red funeral shroud around himself, or that's what it looks like as he's not fully clothed.  And he's stabbing the Devil's mouth with a long spear-like thing which looks more like a shaft of light than anything physical.

Three souls (the middle one is surely Eve) come huddling out through the Gate of Hell.  I like the way Hell has turreted architecture.  And I love the way the naked humans are walking barefoot on the Devi's teeth.

Satan is angry red (but a different, more orangey red from the regal red of Christ's robe).  The eyes are big and bulging, as are those of a beak-nosed sub-demon baring his teeth at the divine intruder.  Two tiny comic-looking devils cavort in the background:  the blue horned one looks a bit like a cow, and the bat-winged one blowing his little trumpet seems to have jumped out of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are.

Four more souls crowd together in Satan's maw.  One of them holds his face in his palm.  Their eyebrows and downturned mouths express desperate misery.  Are they among those about to be saved?  Or are their sins too great?

I like the ocular intimacy (a phrase I borrow from Mika Natif in her chapter in this brilliant book that I'm reading at the moment) between Christ and the foremost human (Adam?).  The anatomical detail is also great:  breast bones, clavicles, rib cages, diaphragms, calf muscles -- all carefully delineated.

Have a peaceful and happy Easter, everyone!


If you'd like to read more:
St John's College Library, mediaeval manuscripts

Icons and their interpretation: The Khora anastasis (great analysis of a brilliant Byzantine Harrowing fresco in the Kariye Cami in Istanbul)

Eat the bible (a sceptic's view)

Easter and art! What's on in Cambridge art, April 2014

My personal pick of five:

1.  Art and Life 1920-1931:

Winifred Nicholson, her husband Ben, and her friends (exhibition)

  

Winifred Nicholson, Roman Road (Landscape with Two Houses), 1926
Source: © Kettle's Yard.

Don't miss the incredible picture of a zebra on the roof terrace of Le Corbusier's iconic modernist building, the Villa Savoye (picture by Christopher Wood; click on the link to see it, or, even better, go to Kettle's Yard and be surprised!!)

My son's favourite was the white abstract relief by W. Nicholson.

Where: Kettle's Yard. 

Ends 11 May 2014.

2. Charlotte Hodes (event)

Charlotte Hodes, Proposition 17: Order of Things (detail), 2014
Source:  New Hall Art Collection.  © the artist

Charlotte Hodes in conversation.  Hodes makes intriguing paper-cuts and ceramics, with delicate female figures crawling, walking, dancing and lying among ornament and patterns.  And New Hall (Murray Edwards) is always a nice place to visit.

Where:  Murray Edwards College (New Hall), Long Room. 

When:  Sat, 26 April 2014.  4.30 pm.

 

 3.  Sue Shepherd (exhibition)

© Sue Shepherd; source: ARB Public Art blog

The Alison Richard Building is a nice venue and this artist's work looks interesting: combines photos, scribbled text and fluorescent lighting.

Where:  Alison Richard Building, West Road.

Ends 27 June 2014.

 

4. Nicola Powys (exhibition and event)

Nicola Powys, Male-blue; © the artist

Where:  Williams Art Gallery, Gwydir St.
Ends 4 May 2014.
What and when:  Talk, Wed 30 April 2014.  For info on how to book, click here.

 

5.  Irish Art in Cambridge (exhibition)

Zelouf + Bell, Oak leaf console.  Source:  zeloufandbell

An opportunity to pop into the Caius Library near Senate House, previously the Squire Law Library,  and to see some interesting paintings and interior design artefacts.  Late-night opening allows for flexible visiting!

Where:  Caius Library, Gonville & Caius College, entrance from Senate House passage

When:  Thurs 17 and Fri 18 April, 6-9 pm; 19-21 April 9-5

More 'What's On':

Nine arty things to do in March 2014 - Many of these are still on!  I especially recommend the Fiji exhibition at the MAA.

Art to see outdoors in the sun:

A visit to Haddenham Gallery  (outdoor sculpture garden)

Where to take family visitors:  A Cambridge itinerary

Looking up at Cambridge buildings  (wander around and crane your neck)

Visit the Cambridge Sculpture Trails

And:  yarn-bombed Mill Road Bridge!

Happy Easter!

Stained-glass window, King's College Chapel, Cambridge, c.1530.
©  Keith Edkins and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

On Easter Sunday, Christ emerges alive and resurrected from the tomb in which he was buried on Good Friday.  Where's he been these last 3 days and nights?  Well, some say that he's been down to Hell, pulling out people ripe for redemption:  people like Eve, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Methuselah and the Queen of Sheba.

Here they all kneel, in grateful humility.  Christ steps on what appears to be a stylish blue trap door; in one hand he holds a triumphant flag; his other hand clasps the hand of Abraham.  The souls are naked, as befits souls.

"Oh, Death, where is thy sting?  Oh, Hades, where is thy victory?"

(1 Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 55, New Testament, King James Bible) 

Have a peaceful Easter Sunday, whatever your creed may be.

Other seasonal posts:

• Good Friday

• New Year

• Advent (Series:  How to look at religious art)

Permalink:  http://artincambridge.blogspot.com/2013/03/happy-easter.html