"WHERE DEATH BECOMES ABSURD AND LIFE ABSURDER": LITERARY VIEWS OF THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918
 
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Stanley Spencer, The Resurrection of the Soldiers, (1928/29)

 
The Resurrection shows a strange subversion of the religious vision appropriate to a chapel. Jesus Christ is no longer the centre of the resurrection scene - the mules in the centre have replaced him. The only thing that draws the observer's eyes towards the Redeemer is the empty space surrounding him. Some of the resurrected soldiers hand in their crosses to Jesus - thus stressing the idea of IMITATIO CHRISTI. Christ wields soldiers’ crosses. The mass of white crosses is the central structural element of the painting. However, they constitute an atmosphere of chaos and destruction rather than one of peace and redemption. Fragments of human bodies are visible everywhere - and fragments of a timber wagon and other military equipment. Most of the activities of the resurrected soldiers are not directed towards Christ. Apart from the soldiers, there are a lot of dark mules. Though many of them are nothing but a mass of dark material in the background, some of them are resurrected, too. The buildings in the background resemble Bruegel scenes. Despite the use of conventional Christian symbols, they do not create the impression of a universe under divine rule and order.  
 
    
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