La beauté élève l'âme... Par ces images volontairement sélectionnées, ainsi que par la récitation de ces prières, puissiez-vous avoir le désir de parvenir à Jésus et à la sainteté, but ultime de toute vie...
Until I get my next post finished, here's an interesting image I came across at this website featuring lots of Bible-related art from several different cultures and time periods. Jesus sits upon a lotus flower, giving two mudras: His right hand showing the mudra of Abhaya, symbolizing protection, peace, benevolence, and dispelling of fear, while his left hand displays the Varada mudra, symbolizing ‘open-handed’ generosity such as charity or the granting of wishes. Wikipedia writes that "it is nearly always shown made with the left hand by a revered figure devoted to human salvation from greed, anger and delusion." Behind his head is a cross halo. Fiery bands emanate from him, like an aureola. Unfortunately, there's not any info about where the mosaic is located, as it appears to be in a church or other building (I say this based on the small cross at the bottom of the photo). If anyone knows, please pass it along. Overall, I think it's a dynamic design, and I like the gold tones throughout, which reminds me of ancient Byzantine mosaics. One thing that I question, however, is the use of the Tilak or Bindi symbol on Jesus' forehead. Frank Wesley rarely used this symbol in his paintings of Jesus, though he did in at least one (rather, he typically opted for painting Jesus' forehead in a golden hue to represent knowledge of God). Naomi Wray writes that "here it may represent a vertical third eye, the never-closing eye of the all-seeing God." She concludes that "This was not an image readily accepted by the Christian community" (Frank Wesley: Exploring Faith With a Brush, 34). Interestingly, the Yeshu Satsang Toronto, a monthly Hindu-style worship service lead by Chris Hale (of Christian music group Aradhna) and his wife Miranda Stone, provides sandlewood paste for followers of Jesus "to apply to their foreheads in the form of a dot (tilak). This symbolizes that the person is a spiritual seeker, serious about the pursuit of God." So here are some questions to consider: How does this symbol (in the mosaic) help to communicate Jesus' identity and/or the Gospel to believers and non-believers alike? I admit that at this point my knowledge and understanding of the subject is too inadequate to begin to formulate an answer... but what do you think?
Among the 100,000 who attended Bernie Sander’s rallies this month, there is a growing contingent of Evangelicals who are causing speculation among pollsters. “We’re not sure if they are here to agi…
La beauté élève l'âme... Par ces images volontairement sélectionnées, ainsi que par la récitation de ces prières, puissiez-vous avoir le désir de parvenir à Jésus et à la sainteté, but ultime de toute vie...
Isn’t He beautiful? Isn’t Jesus my Lord wonderful? And what about His appearances in the Old Testament as the angel of the Lord, there are several instances. To Hagar, Jacob, Manoah and…
From the mid 1990’s Mambo designer Reg Mombassa shocked, horrified and delighted with his, now, iconic series titled “Australian Jesus.” The overwhelming community reactions...
Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form, organization or website. If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at [email protected]. Angelo da Fonseca, Ecce Homo. 33x48cm From the Times of India: Goan artists bridged Christianity and eastern religions: ArchbishopTNN | Nov 26, 2014, 02.13AM IST OLD GOA: Archbishop of Goa and Daman Filipe Neri Ferrao inaugurated the Indian Christian Art Exhibition at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Archiepiscopal palace chapel, Se Cathedral premises, Old Goa. "This inter-religious dialogue was actively promoted by the likes of Angelo da Fonseca and Angela Trindade, both from Goa through their art, a bridge of understanding between Christianity and eastern, particularly, Indian religions," the archbishop said. The exhibition highlights the images created by the late Goan artists Angelo da Fonseca and Angela Trindade, apart from Alfred Thomas, Sr Genevieve SMMI and Sr Claire SMMI. The exhibition is conducted by Art-i, Christian Artists' Forum, Art-i established by the Office for Social Communications, Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, Delhi. Fr Dominic Alvares SFX welcoming the archbishop and the dignitaries, said that the Indian Christian Artists' Forum has found a great patron in Ferrao in promoting the Indian images of Christ and the Goa archdiocese should lead other dioceses of India in promoting Indian Christian Art. The co-ordinator of Indian Christian Artists' Forum, Art-i, Fr Paul Kattukaran presented an Indian image of Christ "My Guru" done by the late Goan artist Angelo da Fonseca as a token of inculturating Christian faith in India. The exhibition will be open from 9am to 7pm everyday till the last day of the Exposition of the Sacred Relics of Saint Francis Xavier; January 4, 2015.
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Commissioned by Evangelisation Brisbane
Jesus the folk healer. Oil on Canvas. Part of a dyptich of the Dalit Jesus. Collection of the Missions Prokura sj. Nuerenberg. The search for cosmic integration in India was most forcefully expressed in the vision of the whole universe as forming the body of God. Many ancient texts refer to it, but it was the 11th century theologian Ramanuja (born 1017CE) who made this theme central to his (Vedantic) belief-system. God is the inner Self of all, and all else forms the ‘inseparably related’ body of God. Theologically, culturally, spiritually, this vision of things has wonderfully inclusive implications. It is a recurring theme explicit in many of the writings of Eric Lott, and is certainly implicit in much of the art of Jyoti Sahi. Compelling as may be this vision of wholeness, the realities of both human and earth’s brokenness press hard on us. The longed-for state of cosmic shanta still seems little more than a distant dream. In India, it is the brokenness of the Dalit (and in different ways ‘Tribal’) people that most painfully strikes the heart of those who have seen both this vision of wholeness and the pain of God in the face of fellow-humans. Having seen the ‘face of God’ in the tortured yet glory-tinged face of Jesus, we have also seen that face in the oppression and pain of the ‘Broken People’. Their brokenness is part of the brokenness of Christ’s body. Jesus is a Dalit as much as he is Cosmic Lord. Lest we become lost in dreams of ultimate togetherness, then, ‘God-in-Christ’ also becomes embodied in the particular face of those broken by life. Followers of Christ can never forget the world’s pain, and the very particular, very problematic ways in which that pain is manifest. In Christian faith, therefore, the Cross is integral to understanding cosmos, the broken Body of Christ is integral to our vision of the healing of the whole body - personal, social, cosmic. The faithful - praying and living out their vision - look for signs of hope. Potent ‘signs’ leading up to that great Cross-sign, are the healing acts of Jesus - though no one should exclude ways of healing and hope opened up in other faith-traditions too. In sometimes very different ways we have been given a vision of the great community of creation, the family of creation, bound together into the all-inclusive body of God. This remains a compelling vision, whatever the seemingly insuperable obstacles to such togetherness. As a potent sign of that longed-for cosmic harmony, acts of healing are central to the Gospel story. As Healer, Jesus sometimes seems akin to the Shaman healing-figure in traditional cultures. There is a struggle with ‘evil powers’, there are times when he sighs, groans, weeps, when he feels power being drawn out of him. Jesus becomes a wounded healer, one ‘by whose wounds we are healed’, as prophecy puts it. Thus, the healing acts prefigure both the passion and the resurrection life of Jesus. In the act of healing, as well as the dis-stress Jesus experiences, there is the higher level of experience, an ec-stasis in the Spirit, into which he moves. This is the ‘shamanic’ mode through which divine healing takes place. Each healing act then becomes a ‘sign’ of the new life of God’s kingdom to come. God’s promised rule of peace and wholeness, is already breaking in. The feeling of need for a channelling of divine power in the face of sickness and disease is still very strong in India. The burial-place of Muslim and Hindu saints, ‘God-men’ like Sai Baba, tribal shaman-figures, Christian pilgrimage-centres: all are seen as potential channels of healing. There are strong contextual co pulsions, as well as theological reasons, why the healing acts of Jesus are of such great importance in Jyoti’s perception and portrayal of the Gospel-story. They are, too, of a piece with that cosmic harmony anticipated in the image of everything bound up in the great body of God. Images a. Dalit brokenness b. Drum/Drummer c. Healer (Shaman) d. Bird (Hamsa)
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Odilon Redon's unusual depiction of a melancholy, beardless Christ uses the dramatic tonality of lithography to convey the figure's suffering. Redon drew parallel lines with a lithographic crayon and
La beauté élève l'âme... Par ces images volontairement sélectionnées, ainsi que par la récitation de ces prières, puissiez-vous avoir le désir de parvenir à Jésus et à la sainteté, but ultime de toute vie...
