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From Gloom to Glory: Art inspired by the Gospel Narratives

of thePassion and

Resurrection of Jesus

Prayer and imagination are not often used together when discussing spirituality. But that was exactly what I needed in my own spiritual life several years ago.

It was Lent. I was reflecting on the Scriptures related to the last week of the life of Jesus. I had recently seen Dali’s Last Supper and began looking for other artwork that depicted Jesus’ last week. And there are plenty of depictions of that final week! The artwork became a springboard for my meditation and spiritual discovery.

A few months earlier, I learned how to create a power point presentation. I couldn’t help but put my “findings” on screen and share it with the DYC community. And I did.

It has been a number of years since the “first release” of the From Gloom to Glory power point. I came across it again in January 2009 and Campus Ministry has decided to re-release it.

May this presentation nurture your imagination, touch your feelings and

increase your faith.

Rev. Jan Mahle

Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!

Like splendid palm branches, we are strewn in the Lord’s path.

Latin antiphon

This is a fresco done by Giotto on the wall of the Arena Chapel in Padua, Italy, 1304-1306). It is one of a cycle of 26 stories about Jesus.

Jesus, when you rode into Jerusalem the people waved

palms with shouts of acclamation. Grant that when the shouting dies

we may still walk beside you even to a cross….

New Zealand Prayer Book

“Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer

for all nations’? but you have made it a ‘den of robbers’.

In this tempestuous scene, El Greco depicted an angry Christ driving the moneychangers from the Temple. An uncommon theme, it became increasingly popular in the latter half of the sixteenth century, promoted by the Council of Trent as a symbol of the Catholic church's attempt to purify itself after the Protestant Reformation. Here El Greco portrayed partially draped women and bare-chested men writhing and twisting to escape the blows of Christ's scourge, emphasizing the agitation of the participants and exaggerating their irreverence. The setting is one of classical grandeur, more reminiscent of an Italian Renaissance palace than of the sacred precincts of the Temple in Jerusalem.

Last Supper by Leonardo daVinci was painted for the Dominicans of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. The painting depicts Matthew 26:21-22, “Is it I, Lord?”. The mural was for the refectory (dining hall) and Da Vinci wanted the monks to feel that Christ and the apostles were there beside them. Notice how the table expands to welcome them. It welcomes you as well.

Tintoretto painted the Last Supper several times in his life. This version (1592-94) can be described as the feast of the poor, in which the figure of Christ mingles with the crowds of apostles. The atmosphere of the room is shadowy, causing the illuminated figures and objects to stand out in bold relief. The angels near the ceiling denote the presence of God. All figures around the table, except Judas, exude a subtle light, a halo, symbolizing their sanctity. Unaware of the import of the proceedings the serving staff ago about their tasks. Several watch the table to ascertain needs. At the far left one inquires of a diner. The disciple raises his hand to halt the servant’s speech so that he may hear Jesus’ words, “This is my body broken for you.”

Imaging the Word, vol.1, pg. 175

God, food of the poor; Christ, our bread, give us a taste of the tender bread from your creation’s table; bread newly taken from your heart’s oven, food that comforts and nourishes us. A loaf of community that makes us human, joined hand in hand, working and sharing. A warm loaf that makes us a family; sacrament of your body, your wounded people.

Workers in a community soup kitchens in Lima, Peru.

Intentionally small to retain detail

Salvador Dali’s interpretation of the Last Supper

Dali stated that this was an "arithmetic and philosophical cosmogony based on the paranoiac sublimity of the number twelve...the pentagon contains microcosmic man: Christ”

I don’t get that comment either. Jan

Journey to Gethsemane,

go and feel the tempter’s snare;Your Redeemer’s

conflict see, watch the anguish of

this hour;Do not hide or turn

away: learn from Jesus how to pray.

James Montgomery, 1820

Giovanni Bellini, 1459, Agony in the Garden

Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and

kissed him.

(Mark 14: 44f)

By Giotto di Bondone

“Yet each man kills the thing he loves, by each let this be heard… The coward does it with a kiss, the brave man with a sword.”

Oscar Wilde

Behold the Man

Lovis Corinth, 1925 Ecce Homo

Titian’s Christ Carrying His Cross

The cross we bear precedes the crown we wear. To be a Christian one must take up his cross, with all its difficulties and agonizing and tension-packed content and carry it until that very cross leaves its marks upon us and redeems us to that more excellent way which comes only through suffering.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Raising of the Cross, 1611by Peter Paul Rubens Central Panel of triptych in Cathedral in Antwerp

“Rubens emphasizes the rippling muscles of the executioners as they strain to lift the planks of wood, which carry their precious load into an

upright position, and the trust of Jesus as he looks up to his Father in heaven, faithful to the end.”

(Helen de Borchgrave in A Journey into Christian Art, p. 151)

Hebrews 5:8-9

Hebrews 5:8-9

Hebrews 5:8-9

Matthias Grunewald’s The Crucifixion (1515), is the central panel of the Isenheim altarpiece for the Monastery of St. Anthony. The figure on the right is John the Baptist. “It [the altarpiece] is unique in the history of religious painting. There are no holds barred…It is (graphically) horrific.”

(Helen de Borchgrave in A Journey into Christian Art, p. 96)

“IT IS FINISHED.”

CrucifixionSalvador

Dali, 1954

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world. Traditional prayer of the Good Friday liturgy.

Descent from the Cross

Painting by Max Beckman, 1917

Resurrection by GrunewaldNeither the cross nor death could contain him. Love incarnate is the victory and history is forever changed because of God’s gift through the Savior. The artist celebrates the eternal Savior.

Imagining the Word, vol. 1, p.187

Resurrection, By Piero della Francesa, 1463

“Jesus stands in a grand posture with one foot still in the stone coffin and the other resting atop its open edge. Christ’s gaze falls on the viewer no matter where one stands in relation to the painting. In his right hand, Christ holds the staff for a triumphal banner of victory over death….The sleeping soldiers…emphasize the silent wonder of it all…Although the background landscape contains trees devoid of foliage (a symbol of death), the landscape at right is verdant with life, with the figure of Christ representing the transition from death to life.” Imaging the Word, volume 1, pg. 187

Go forth in hope,

Hold on, praying expectantly,

For Christ is risen.

Jesus Christ is risen indeed!

For further meditation with movement, consider

www.passionist.orgWays of the Cross

SOURCES FOR THIS PRESENTATION

Imaging the Word, An Arts and Lectionary Resource, volumes 1,2,3

Various editors for United Church Press, 1994, 1995, 1996

Journey into Christian Art by Helen de Borchgrave First Fortress Press, 1999

www.artchive.com and other links to sites with specific paintings