The Raising of Lazarus

Claes Moeyaert was the most prolific of a group of Amsterdam history painters that are collectively known as the Pre-Rembrandtists. These artists, which included the painters Pieter Lastman and Jan and Jacob Pynas, depicted biblical, mythological and secular narratives with great emphasis on dramatic and psychological effects. Though the final date of this picture is no longer legible, the present painting probably dates to the second half of the 1630s, a period when Moeyaert's compositions became more lively, his colours more intense and luminous and his figures more numerous and animated. The changes that Moeyaert's painting underwent in the period had much to do with the influence of Rembrandt, who had moved to Amsterdam earlier in the decade.

This painting appears to be the earliest known treatment of this subject, which is recounted in the Gospel of John (11:1-44), by Moeyaert. Moeyaert would return to the theme on several further occasions, including in two large paintings, one dated 16[5]4 in the Muzeum Narodowe, Warsaw (inv. no. M.Ob.557 MNW) and another undated painting formerly from the collection of Guillaume des Marez which was sold in Brussels in 1932 (see A. Tümpel, 'Claes Cornelisz. Moeyaert: Katalog der Gemälde,' Oud Holland, LXXXVIII, 1974, p. 259, nos. 112 and 113). A third painting of similar scale, evidently unknown to Tümpel and dated 1652(?), is today in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Reims (inv. no. 999.61). A drawing attributed to Moeyaert and dated 1643, formerly in the I.Q. Van Regteren Altena Collection, may represent another as-yet unknown composition (sold Christie's, Amsterdam, 10 December 2014, lot 161), while a further drawing and etching related to the painting in Warsaw are also known (see Tümpel, op. cit., figs. 242 and 243).