For Christians, we are about to enter the mysteries of Holy Week. Christ enters Jerusalem, is crucified by the temple leaders, and then rises from the dead – an act which opens the gates of eternal life for humanity. There is so much going on in such a few short days, one can barely keep up with it all. It’s no wonder the different events of Holy Week have been the subject of countless masterpieces over time.

On my first trip to Paris, I did the tourist things like visiting the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa. But what’s much more interesting is that when I left the hall, I saw a painting that captivated me far more than fair Lisa. A painting by Antonio Campi called The Mystery of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ (1569).

What is fascinating about it is that the more you look at it, you see all the events of Holy Week until the Ascension of Christ in one picture. I spent a lot of time looking at it and finding all the different parts. There is so much detail in this one giant painting! Just some of the events are:

• Meeting of the women while carrying the cross
• Jesus is stripped and his garments nailed to the cross
• Crucifixion with the 2 thieves at Gogatha
• Removal of the body from the cross by Joseph
• Wrapping in burial cloth
• Burial in the tomb
• The Harrowing of Hell
• Resurrection and frightening of Roman guards
• Apostles finding the tomb empty
• Mary encounters Jesus in the garden
• The appearance on the Road to Emmaus
• Thomas places his hand in the wounds of Christ
• Jesus meets the apostles fishing and Peter swims to shore
• Cooking of the fish together
• Jesus tells Peter to feed his sheep
• Jesus’ final discourse and ascension into heaven.
• The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles

Give this little video clip a watch to see what events you can see.

Links:

• https://deathofjesus.wordpress.com/weston/les-mysteres-de-la-passion-du-christ/