American Art Collaborative

Albert Pinkham Ryder traveled to Europe in 1877 and 1882 to study the art of the European masters. He was inspired to paint many religious subjects, including this image of Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene. Ryder asked one of his friends to model for the figure of Jesus, but his friend felt that because he was “stout and muscular . . . the figure would look rather healthy for a man that had been in the grave three days.” Ryder was unconcerned, replying that the painting of Jesus “should show power as well as spirituality.” X-rays of the image, however, show that he did alter the figure’s arm and chest slightly to make them appear slimmer. (Fitzpatrick, quoted in Taylor, “Ryder Remembered,” in Broun, Albert Pinkham Ryder, 1989
“I can not but feel in some way that in . . . the Religious picture [Christ Appearing to Mary] I have gone a little higher up on the mountain and can see other peaks showing along the horizon.” Ryder to Thomas B. Clarke, quoted in Broun, Albert Pinkham Ryder, 198