Pedro Duque Cornejo
The Ascension of Christ

1748
Cáceres Cathedral, Cáceres, Spain

The figure of Christ breaks with tradition in a number of ways. He not only raises his right hand in blessing but extends his whole arm as if he were giving the instruction in Acts 1, "you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me." Instead of the usual robe and mantle, he is covered only in a loose cloth that flies in the wind. And instead of a mandorla the artist provides light rays emanating from the body. Even the conventional crossed halo is gone, replaced by more light rays.

View this image in full resolution.
Read more about the Ascension.

• Home Page
• Iconography of the Ascension
• This Page

Photographed at the cathedral by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.