Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away, Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. (John 20: 15-16, KJV)
For the next three weeks, we will be looking at new artwooks from the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection depicting Post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus, beginning with an image from Holy Land Bible Illustrator Elsie Anna Wood of Mary Magdalene's encounter with the Risen Lord on Easter morning beside the empty tomb. Mary is so caught up in her grief she mistakes Christ for a gardener until he calls her by name. The moment of recognition is captured in this week's featured chromolithograph poster from Wood's S.P.C.K. Giant Picture Book and Gospel Picture Book series of Sunday school materials, published around 1950. Wood was one of few Bible illustrators who could claim first-hand knowledge of life in the Holy Land and she locates the meeting between Jesus and Mary beneath a fig tree, accurate in every detail. This first in our series of Post-Resurrection images can be found on the Holy Land Bible Illustrators page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. (John Kohan)