The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection

Running to the empty tomb

In the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene tells the disciples that Christ’s tomb is empty. Peter and John run to see for themselves. The Swiss painter Eugène Burnand showed them in mid-run at dawn, their faces full of hope and fear.

The painting dates from 1898 and belongs to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The image shown here comes from a period photogravure, so it is in sepia rather than the painting’s colours.

John, young and anxious

John, the younger disciple, runs with his hands clasped, his hair blown back. His face shows anxiety and hope.

Peter, older and troubled

Peter, older and bearded, leans forward, eyes wide. He had denied Christ three times only days before, and his face seems to carry both guilt and expectation.

Hands that tell the feeling

Peter presses one hand to his chest and points with the other. John clasps his hands. Burnand used their gestures to show two different reactions to the news.

Behind them, the dawn sky and the distant landscape suggest the early morning of Easter.

Who was Eugène Burnand?

Eugène Burnand (1850 to 1921) was a Swiss painter from Moudon, in the canton of Vaud. He trained in Geneva and Paris, and became known for scenes of Swiss rural life and, later, for religious paintings. A devout Protestant, he wanted to paint biblical scenes in a realistic, human way, without the conventional idealisation of academic religious art.

He also illustrated books and made a large series of portraits of soldiers during the First World War.

The Gospel account

In the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene finds the tomb of Jesus empty early on Sunday morning. She runs to tell Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved, traditionally identified as John. The two run to the tomb. John runs faster and arrives first, but waits; Peter goes in and sees the burial cloths lying there. Then John enters, sees and believes.

Burnand shows the moment before they arrive, when hope and doubt are mixed.

Faces of hope and fear

The young John clasps his hands, his face pale and anxious. Peter, older, with a grey beard, leans forward, his eyes wide, his hand on his heart. Their expressions capture uncertainty: have they lost their master, or has something extraordinary happened? Burnand paints them as real men, not saints with haloes.

The light of dawn

The sky behind them glows with the first light of morning. The landscape is simple, with a few hills. The light falls on their faces from the front, as if from the direction of the tomb. The dawn suggests the new beginning of the Resurrection, a symbolic as well as a realistic light.

Where to see it

The painting belongs to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, which bought it after its success at the Salon of 1898. It is one of the most popular religious paintings of the late nineteenth century. Our hand-painted oil reproduction follows this composition. You can also read about Burnand’s The Prodigal Son.

Questions about the Disciples Peter and John

What story does it show?

John 20: Peter and John run to Christ’s tomb after hearing it is empty.

Who painted it?

The Swiss painter Eugène Burnand, in 1898.

Where is it?

Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Why is the image sepia?

The best available public-domain image is a period photogravure; the original painting is in colour.

Which disciple arrived first?

According to John’s Gospel, John ran faster and arrived first, but Peter entered the tomb first.

Where was Burnand from?

Moudon, in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland.

Sources and image credit

• Musée d’Orsay: Burnand, Les Disciples
• Wikimedia Commons: Les Disciples Jean et Pierre courant au sépulcre

Public-domain reproduction of The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulchre (1898), from a period photogravure via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same image; no reconstruction or upscaling.