The painting, in horizontal view, depicts the three Marys, who went down to the tomb of Christ at dawn on Sunday, three days after his death, and found out that Jesus had resurrected.
On the right you can see three women – Mary of Magdala, Mary Magdalene and Mary – in front of the tomb: Mary of Magdala and Mary are kneeling with arms wide open, while Mary Magdalene, with an absorbed look, is depicted with long blonde hair as in her traditional iconography. The woman is standing and holding her long pink mantle in one hand and in other hand a vase containing the ointment which she used to wash Christ’s feet in the house of Simon the Pharisee. The gestures and expressions, partly hidden by the wide garments, show amazement and shock at the vision of the angel, who has descended from heavens to announce them the Resurrection of Jesus. As told in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, the young angel wears a “snow-white” robe and he sits on the empty grave and holds the tombstone he has just removed under his left arm. The right arm is raised with his hand pointing to the sky, where Christ has just risen.

The artist follows the Gospels quite faithfully and creates a dramatic and theatrical representation at the same time with elegant and imposing figures with wide gestures of great expressive intensity. Also, the use of light and colors contribute to this dramatic effect. For example, the contrast is impressive between the dark sky turning to dawn in the background and the figures and clouds near the angel, which are white and made even clearer by the lateral light coming from the background. The use of bright and contrasting colors in the clothes with deep folds create an intense chiaroscuro which also contributes to this effect. The bright tones of the garments and grandiose gestures of the figures are inspired by Lanfranco’s stay in Parma, who was working on important fresco decorations around 1610.

In fact, Schedoni shows that he had a good knowledge of various pictorial cultures, which he elaborated in a completely personal way, but which shows Emilian tradition in elegant figures, which, however, were not as soft as those of Correggio. The artist was also inspired by Caravaggio, whose works he had seen during his trip to Rome, in the dramatic use of light, which was different from that of the Lombard painter but equally intense. Schedoni was influenced by the works of the Carracci as well, especially of Ludovico and Annibale, and their classicism that characterized the figures and the general composition. Bartolomeo’s painting was commissioned by the Duke of Parma, Ranuccio Farnese, for the church of Cappuccini di Fontevivo. The painting was located on the right side of the main altar, opposite of the Deposition, another work commissioned from the artist by Farnese, as a sort of pendant work for the The Three Marys, albeit with different dimensions.
The work remained in the church of Cappuccini di Fontevivo until the Napoleonic suppression. In 1806 it was moved to the Academy of Fine Arts in Parma and in 1809 it was placed in Pinacoteca Nazionale.

Bartolomeo Schedoni was born in Modena. His training was completely Emilian, except for the trip to Rome he made in 1595 to take lessons from the Mannerist painter Federico Zuccari. First young Bartolomeo was staying with his father, who had opened a workshop for masks after moving to Parma, which he produced mostly for the Farnese court, the lords of Parma. Ranuccio Farnese, who was his most important client, helped Bartolomeo to stay at Zuccarini’s studio in Rome.

Despite his few trips, Bartolomeo Schedoni proves to be an educated and updated painter on the artistic culture of his time, and his painting is only partially linked the Bolognese Classicism of Annibale Carracci, which was the most popular style in Emilia in those year. In fact, he admired the painters of Parma, especially Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio, and Giovanni Lanfranco, whose works Schedoni reinterpreted in a very personal way. The softness and delicate chiaroscuro of Correggio became more abrupt and dramatic in Bartolomeo’s work, which was influenced by Caravaggio’s use of light, which he saw in Rome. The shapes are constructed in a more clean and geometric manner with a brighter color than in the works of Allegri.

These elements, in particular the use of strong contrasts of light and shadows, were characterized even more in later phase of Schedoni, when he would elaborate the artistic culture of Caravaggio, which was emerging in the first decade of the 17th century in Rome. The artist died at a young age in Parma on December 23, 1615.

The construction of Palazzo della Pilotta started in 1583 for the order of the duke of Parma and Piacenza, Ottavio Farnese, who entrusted the task to architect Francesco Paciotto from Urbino. The name Pilotta derives from the game pelota, played by Spanish soldiers in the courtyard of Guazzatoio.

Today, the building holds the museum of archeology, national gallery, Palatine library, Farnese theater, and the Bodonian museum as well as the Accademia Nazionale di Belle Arti, the artistic lyceum of Paolo Toschi, the Department of Cultural Heritage and Performing Arts of the University of Parma.

After the extinction of the Farnese dynasty their collection was moved to Naples by Charles III of Spain in 1734. Pilotta remained without its artistic treasures until the duke Philip of Spain arrived in Parma in 1749. The son of the king of Spain and his wife Louise Elizabeth, the favorite daughter of the king Louis XV of France. At this occasion, Pilotta became a cultural center, a real symbol of the enlightenment and the French politics. Accademia di Belle Arti was founded in 1757 and a new artistic collection was created, from which will originate the Galleria Nazionale. The Palatina library (1769) and archaeological museum (1769) were added to the complex.

During the years of the restoration, under the duchy of Marie Louise of Austria (1816-1847) the cultural institutions of the Pilotta underwent considerable transformations. The halls of representation of the court were rearranged and the façade of the Palazzo was remade between 1833 and 1834, creating its elegant neoclassical character. Th task was entrusted to the architect Nicola Bettoli and the aim was to giver greater dignity to the ducal residence.

During the 1944 bombardments the building was severely damaged and from this point began a series of restoring interventions renovating the interiors, which became suitable to host the Galleria Nazionale, starting from 1991. The collection includes La Scapiliata by Leonardo da Vinci, the Turkish Slave and the Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine by Parmigianino, Correggio’s Madonna of St. Jerome and the Lamentation Over the Dead Christ, Guercino’s Susanna and the Elders and a view by Canaletto.