The Ascension
The AscensionIn the lowest
register the three Marys encounter the angel at Christ's tomb. In
the upper right, Christ ascends into Heaven as if by walking up a
mountainside. His hand is taken by the hand of the Father, a
gesture which preserves the passive idea in Luke and Mark's phrasing:
"he was taken up into Heaven."
Kessler,
Introduction
to “The Christian Realm: Narrative Representations” (Weitzmann,
p. 454), suggests that the choice of an ascent as if up a mountain is
based on the Old Testament
reading
for Ascension Day in the liturgy of the western church, which is taken
from Genesis 19:16-25.
The disconsolate
figures on the left and right are most likely the soldiers who,
according to Matthew 28:4, "for fear of him . . .
were struck with terror, and became as dead men."
More of the Ascension
Source: Weitzmann