CARAVAGGIO AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.pdf

The Way, 44/4 (October 2005), 21-35 CARAVAGGIO AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY Thomas J. McElligott OW DOES ONE EXPERIENCE and live the resurrection of the body on this side of the grave? How does the belief in bodily resurrection ‘actually transform a person toward fullness of life in Christ?’ 1 This article explores what three of Caravaggio’s paintings might tell us about such questions. Christian belief in the resurrection depends on the resurrection of Jesus. The different accounts of the resurrection in the New Testament and the earliest credal formulas all testify to the resurrection of the body as a core teaching of the Christian community. Greek philosophical concepts have too easily corrupted the understanding of the resurrection of the body, reducing it to the immortality of the soul. But the biblical notion of resurrection refers to the whole person, body and soul, filled with the new life of the Spirit. The Supper at Emmaus 1601 Caravaggio painted two pictures of the Supper at Emmaus, one in 1601 and the other probably five years later. The earlier, painted for Cariaco Mattai, now hangs in the National Gallery in London. The second Supper hangs in Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera. The difference between the two pictures is obvious. The first, the ‘London’ Supper, is bright, exciting, full of enthusiasm. The second, the ‘Milan’ Supper, is subdued, quiet, even sombre in tone. The depictions of the body are quite different, not only in the case of the resurrected Jesus, but also in that of the other figures. Clearly we have two distinct 1 Sandra Schneiders, ‘The Study of Christian Spirituality: Contours and Dynamics of a Discipline’, Christian Spirituality Bulletin: Journal of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, 6 (Spring 1998), 3. H 22 Thomas J. McElligott interpretations of the Supper at Emmaus, and two interpretations of the resurrection appearance of Jesus. 2 The first, the London Emma