Art is the Solution

For the last day of religious art week, I want to focus on one of the most common subjects in Christian artistic tradition: The Annunciation. This term refers to a passage from the Gospel of Luke that describes the angel Gabriel coming to the Virgin Mary to tell her that she will give birth to the son of God and his name will be Jesus: And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. Luke 1:26-31 In art,...

Adoration of the Mystic Lamb Source: Google Arts and Culture The Ghent Altarpiece  is probably one of the most famous and most valuable pieces of art in the world. This fifteenth-century polyptych contains twelve panels; the upper register depicts Christ flanked by the Virgin Mary, Saint John the Baptist, choirs of angels, and Adam and Eve. The bottom panels show a gathering of pilgrims and saints worshipping the Lamb of God. Over its long history, the altarpiece has become known as one of the “most stolen” pieces of art ever. According to my research , the altarpiece has been stolen or attacked at least four times. Most recently, The Ghent Altarpiece  was stolen by the Nazis during World War II. Fortunately, it was recovered in the famous Altaussee salt mine—a storehouse of stolen Nazi art—towards the end of the war. Today, the piece resides in a thirty million Euro, custom-built, climate-controlled case of bulletproof glass. One could write an entire book about Th...

The Taking of Christ Source: Wikimedia Commons Baroque painter Caravaggio is famous for his religious paintings. While Caravaggio himself was well-known for his temper and his devil-may-care attitude, his greatest works depict scenes from the life of Christ and the saints. One of his greatest masterpieces, The Taking of Christ , depicts Christ’s arrest in the garden after being betrayed by Judas: While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.” Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. - Matthew 26:47-50 In The Taking of Christ , Caravaggio captures the moment that Judas kisses Christ. To the left, Saint John cries out in alarm while ...

The Conversion of Saint Paul Source: Wikimedia Commons Of all the artistic movements and styles, Mannerism has produced some of the strangest and most interesting paintings in Western art. Mannerist artists rejected Renaissance realism in favor of a more artificial and creative style. Parmigianino, one of the most famous Mannerist painters, is perhaps best known for The Madonna with the Long Neck , a painting of the Virgin Mary with a bizarrely long neck. However, today we’re taking a look at another Parmigianino painting with a religious subject: The Conversion of Saint Paul . The subject of the piece is the conversion of Saint Paul. Saint Paul, known as Saul at this point in his life, was involved in persecuting early Christians until he experienced a miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus. Parmigianino captures the moment that Paul begins to follow Christ, which is described in The Acts of the Apostles: And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the discip...

The Deposition from the Cross Source: Wikimedia Commons The Descent from the Cross is one of the most popular subjects in Christian art. It’s no exaggeration to say that nearly every "Old Master" painted at least one image of Christ’s body being removed from the Cross, and it’s easy to understand why the subject was so popular. In addition to its theological significance, the Descent from the Cross offers painters the opportunity to show their skill in creating emotional and visually dramatic art. There are many fine and interesting depictions of the Descent from the Cross in the Western artistic canon. However, Pontormo’s version, entitled The Deposition from the Cross , stands out. Pontormo, an Italian painter, was a member of the Mannerist movement, and it certainly shows in this painting. The piece depicts a crowd of pastel-clad mourners carrying the body of Christ and supporting the Virgin Mary, who is swooning at the sight of her son’s dead body. It is a strange approac...

Saint Eulalia Source: Wikimedia Commons Upon first glance, it may be hard to believe that John William Waterhouse’s Saint Eulalia depicts a Christian martyr. It is an extremely strange painting. The foreshortened, half-naked body of a young woman dominates the foreground while the middle ground—usually used to portray the main action of the piece—is empty. A group of onlookers huddles in the background while snow falls gently on the strange scene. The subject of this unconventional painting is the death of Eulalia of Mérida, a fourth-century Christian martyr from Spain. According to my research , Eulalia was persecuted because of her belief in Christianity and because she insulted the Roman gods. Eulalia, who was twelve to fourteen-years-old at the time, was sentenced to death by the local Roman governor. She was tortured and suffered a gruesome and excruciating martyrdom. Despite her pain, she taunted her torturers, and, when she died, a dove flew out of her mouth, a miracle that sym...

The Light of the World Source: Keble College I’ve decided that this week is going to be religious art week on this blog. For seven days, I’ll be highlighting pieces of interesting religious art from the Western world. To kick things off, I want to take a look at one of the most popular devotional paintings in Victorian England: The Light of the World by William Holman Hunt. Hunt was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood; like all the members of this group, he sought to express “genuine ideas” and serious subjects through his art. For Hunt, this often meant executing religious works, such as The Light of the World . The painting depicts Christ standing in an autumnal landscape; he stands in front of a wooden door with his hand raised to knock. The scene illustrates a verse from the Book of Revelation: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. - Revelation 3:20 The verse is an ...