Landscape with Scenes of Christ’s Life from Holy Week to the Ascension

Frederik van Valckenborch painted Christ’s final hours as a continuous narrative, or a series of vignettes, in which the principal figures reappear. The story zigzags through, and around, a walled city dotted by grassy knolls and framed by mountain peaks. It begins in the bottom right corner with the entry of Christ into Jerusalem and proceeds to the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist. To the right, The Agony in the Garden and The Betrayal along with a scene of Christ being visited by an angel punctuate the landscape. This is followed by Judas helping the soldiers capture Christ, who is then sentenced to death by Pontius Pilate. Near the center, Christ carries the cross out of Jerusalem. Before reaching the mount, the artist gives us an isolated scene of the suicide of Judas. The crucifixion and resurrection of Christ from the tomb occupy the upper portion of the painting. Further right, Mary Magdalene encounters Christ in the garden in a classic example of Noli me tangere (Do not touch me). Christ is then reunited with his Apostles on the road to Emmaus. The last scene of this complex visual narrative—the Ascension of Christ into heaven in a blaze of yellow light—occupies the top right.