The Resurrection

On 25 June 1892, five small panels by Perugino came up for sale at Christie's in London. They had stayed together for decades, first with Alexander Barker, a London collector, and then with the Earl of Dudley. Four of them were bought through the Paris dealer Durand-Ruel for Martin Ryerson, a Chicago collector, and they are now in the Art Institute of Chicago. This one, the Resurrection, was sold on its own and reached the Metropolitan Museum in 1911.

Together they once made up a predella, the strip of small scenes along the base of an altarpiece, painted around 1500 when Perugino was one of the most sought-after painters in Italy. The five scenes show moments when Christ's divine nature is revealed, from the Nativity to his appearance to Mary Magdalene. Which altarpiece they stood under has never been settled. Here Christ stands barefoot on the pushed-back lid of the tomb, holding a banner, while three soldiers doze around him and a fourth throws up his hand.