Easter Through the Eyes of Great Masters
Apr 21, 2025What do Giotto, Fra Angelico, Leonardo da Vinci and even Salvador Dalí have in common? They all returned to one story—again and again—for inspiration, emotion and meaning. A story that has shaped Western art more than any other. A story of love, betrayal, courage, loss and hope.
The Easter narrative, whether you know it by heart or only in fragments, is one of the most powerful ever told. And in the hands of artists, it becomes something even more: a visual language through which generations have explored the deepest aspects of the human condition.
Entry into Jerusalem, 1305, Giotto – Part of the frescos in Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy
It begins with a procession. Christ rides into Jerusalem, not on a horse, but a donkey. The people greet him with palms and hosannas. Giotto, painting in the early 1300s, gives us a scene that feels astonishingly real. His Entry into Jerusalem isn't grand—it’s grounded. Faces look out at us. The moment is full of dignity, but also foreboding. We know, as he does, where this road leads.
The last supper, 1550, Plautilla Nelli
At the Last Supper, time slows. Bread is broken. Wine is poured. In Plautilla Nelli’s Last Supper, painted within the walls of a Florentine convent, the disciples sit stiff with unease.
“One of you will betray me,” Jesus says — and the silence is louder than any cry.
Nelli, a self-taught nun, paints not spectacle but sorrow. Her scene is not about the betrayal to come, but the intimacy about to be lost.
The Sacrament of the Last Supper, 1955, Salvador Dali
Much later, Salvador Dalí reimagines the Last Supper in his surreal, spiritual vision from 1955. Here, Christ is weightless, glowing, almost transparent. The scene hovers beyond time. Dalí’s painting is not about doctrine—it’s about mystery. The unknowable, the eternal.
The Arrest of Christ (Kiss of Judas), 1303, Giotto – Part of the frescos in Scrovegni Chapel, Padua, Italy
Then comes the betrayal.
When the moment arrives, it comes not with a sword, but with a kiss.
Giotto’s The Arrest of Christ shows Judas stepping out of the shadows, wrapping Jesus in his cloak. This was the prearranged signal to the guards: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.”
But this gesture was also a disciple’s sign of respect, of love for his teacher. That contradiction is unbearable—and unforgettable. A kiss that marks both devotion and destruction that cannot be stopped.
Christ on the way to calvary / Carrying the Cross, 1560, Titian
As the story moves forward, we follow Jesus through the final hours of his life—not with grandeur, but with quiet endurance. In Titian’s Carrying the Cross, Christ is pressed forward by force, the weight of the wood bowing his body. He does not resist, but he feels everything. Each step is heavy with sorrow and resolve.
Golgotha, 1900, Edvard Munch
And in Edvard Munch’s Golgotha (1900), we see the loneliness of the crucifixion like never before. The figure of Christ stands isolated at the centre of a restless, chaotic crowd. There is no harmony, no solemnity—only confusion, dissonance, and the aching distance between divinity and the world that cannot recognise it.
But the story does not end there.
Resurrection of Christ and Women at the Tomb, 1442, Fra Angelico
Easter morning begins with silence. In Fra Angelico’s Resurrection and the Women at the Tomb, the scene is almost still.
The stone is rolled away. An angel waits, calm and radiant. The women who came to mourn stand frozen, caught between fear and awe. No miracle is shown—only what remains after it. The empty space speaks. Something irreversible has happened, but the world hasn’t caught up yet.
The rosary chapel, 1951, Henri Matisse
And then, centuries later, Henri Matisse—old, ill, and nearly immobile—returns to the Christ story as his biggest career achievement. The result is the Rosary Chapel in Vence, completed in 1951. Designed entirely by Matisse—from stained glass to altar cloths—it is his final, most intimate masterpiece.
Here, the Easter story is rendered in flowing black lines and radiant colour. Christ appears again and again: on the cross, in the tomb, in glory – every scene is numbered to help us follow the narrative. Matisse once called it “the masterpiece of my life.” It is less a monument than a meditation. Less an ending than a return to the beginning.
Last supper, 1496-98, Leonardo Da Vinci
It is incredible to follow the story of Easter through these visual masterpieces—images that carry us not only through the Passion, but through the history of art itself.
For over two thousand years, artists have been fascinated by this story. Each generation has returned to it: some with faith, others with doubt, many with questions. From Giotto to Matisse, they’ve tried to reflect its mystery in their own language, shaped by the spirit of their time.
These works are not just illustrations. They are reflections—of suffering and love, of darkness and light. The visual becomes a guide, helping us enter the story, not as distant observers, but as fellow humans. And whether we stand before a fresco, a chapel, or a single painted figure, we’re reminded: this is a story that still speaks.
🎓 Want to go deeper?
Join our Educational Art Club online and watch the full masterclass on Easter in Art, where we explore this story through the eyes of great artists—from early Byzantine mosaics to Michelangelo, El Greco and Dali! If you're not yet a member and are an English speaker, then send us an email to [email protected] to be added to the waiting list.
Follow @the_art_trotter on Instagram for insights from my art trotting—across museums, chapels, cities, and quiet corners of the art world!
Sign up for our art updates!
Enter your email to receive information, inspiration and tips about art, art history, art events and the wonderful world of art!
By entering your name and email, you agree to receive emails from us with inspiration and tips about art and the art world. You can unsubscribe at any time by pressing Unsubscribe.