By
The Monday following Easter Sunday is a religious holiday in Italy. It celebrates the day when three Holy Women鈥攄isciples of Christ identified at different points of the Bible with various individuals named Mary鈥攁rrived at the tomb of Christ to finish dressing his dead body and learned that his tomb was empty as he had resurrected.
The event is related in the Gospel of Mark:
鈥榃hen the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus鈥� body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, 鈥淲ho will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb? But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 鈥淒on鈥檛 be alarmed,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. [鈥鈥�
The young man at the tomb has traditionally been considered an angel. Indeed, Italians call this day 鈥榣uned铆 del鈥欌�檃ngelo鈥� (Monday of the angel). The joyful discovery made by the Three Marys at Christ鈥檚 tomb has been represented countless times by Italian artists.
Jacopo di Cione and workshop, , 1370-1, National Gallery, London. Source: The National Gallery
Fra Angelico, detail from the , 1451-52, tempera on wood, Museo di San Marco, Florence. Source:
Annibale Carracci, Holy Women at Christ鈥� s Tomb, 1590s, oil on canvas, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg. Source:
Antiveduto Grammatica, Mary Magdalene at the Tomb, 1620-22, oil on canvas,
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg. Source: