More on Advent 4

Here are some thoughts via Steve Taylor on Advent 4 and the painting Halt of the wise men, by John La Farge.

John La Farge was born in 1835 in New York. He grew up to become a painter, a writer, a lawyer and most famously, a stained glass window artist.

He painted and decorated in some of the most famous churches and buildings in the USA, including Trinity Church, Boston, the altarpience for the Church of the Ascension in New York, Harvard University and the Supreme Court building at Baltimore.

A feature of La Farge’s stained glass artistry was his use of colour. He explored new ways to harmonise and intensify colour. Rather than use separate panels of distinct stained glass, La Farge found ways to blend and harmonise, to make light look more natural, more pure and more intense.

Halt of the Wise men is a painting. But look at the light.

Start with the intensity and purity of light in the top left.

Now look at the other source of light, the light that shines from the leading men in the middle foreground.

Now consider Christ as the light of the world. Christ as the light in the top left, intense and pure and full of harmony.

Christ as the light of the world that shines. That shine on, and shines from, the men in the middle.

As I look at light in this painting, I find myself asking;
In what ways is the light of Christ, full and intense and harmonious and pure, shining on me?
Shining from me?

And where there is light, there’s also dark.
Look closely at the darkness in the middle of the painting. There are figures of people on horseback.
Very shadowy and very faint. Figures of people leaving the journey on horse back.

Which makes me wonder, What could distract me from my journey toward God?

La Farge was hugely influenced by Oriental culture. He also traveled and painted throughout the South Pacific.

His South Pacific painting was characterized by the ability to paint people honestly, as they were, with real human sympathy.

And here in front of us we have the wise men from the East. From the Orient.
Painted by a man with an ability to paint people honestly, with real human sympathy.

Which makes wonder about these wise men as people. What motivated them to follow a star? What family did they leave behind? What did they think and talk about as they traveled?

Halt of the Wise men. Where am I on my journey with God? What is motivating me? What is distracting me? How is the light of Christ shining from me?

Advent 4 - Sunday 18 December

Advent 4 brings this image,The Halt of the Wise Men, painted in 1878-9 by John La Farge.

The light from the star is shining brightly - no wonder they noticed it!

More on Advent 3

Here are some thoughts via Michial Wood on the painting for Advent 3:

Madonna and Child with Saints in the enclosed garden.

An apprentice of the artist Robert Campin painted it in the 1400s.

Robert Campin and his apprentice were known as Netherlandish artists.

Netherlandish artists had a long tradition of symbolic religious painting. This painting combines this tradition with a new interest in nature.

The textures of rich cloth in this painting are painted with almost photographic realism and the leaves of the flowers are extremely delicate.

The artist has also achieved mystical overtones through the figures' quiet poses and the minute details.

In this painting, Mary and Child are inside a walled garden, surrounded by saints.
From left to right the Saints are: Catherine, John the Baptist, Barbara, and Anthony Abbot.

Standing on the left of Mary is John the Baptist holding a lamb. The lamb symbolises his recognition of Christ as the "Lamb of God”. In John, Chapter 1, Verse 29 it says ‘The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’

Sitting on the left of the painting is Catherine of Alexandria with a sword and a breaking wheel, which were the instruments of her martyrdom. It is said that when she was 18 she visited the Emperor Maximinus the second, and tried to convince him not to persecute Christians. Catherine was later condemned to death on the breaking wheel, but when she touched it, it broke. Afterwards she was beheaded.

Saint Barbara offers Jesus an apple or a quince, an age-old symbol of love. Her special attribute is the impregnable tower, a symbol of her chastity. She is said to have been so beautiful that her father built a tower and locked her inside so that no other man could marry her. Later her father departed on a journey. Barbara had heard stories from the bible and while her father was away she thought about these stories a lot. She would look out from the tower and see the countryside, trees, animals and people and decided that all these things must be part of a master plan and that the idols her parents worshipped must be false. When her father returned from his journey and found out she was a Christian he dragged her before the province who demanded she be beheaded.

Half-hidden by Saint Anthony's robe is a pig sitting beside him symbolising gluttony, and recalls his triumph over temptation. He was the son of well-to-do parentswho died when he was 20. Having inherited their possessions he had a desire to imitate the life of the Apostles and early Christians. One day, on hearing in church One day, on hearing in church Matthew, chapter 19, verse 21, which says "If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor", he received these words as spoken directly to him, so he disposed of all his property and goods, and devoted himself fully to religion.

The walled garden relates to a verse from Song of Songs, chapter 4: verse 12, where a bridegroom speaks of his beloved saying "A locked up garden is my sister, my bride; A locked up spring, A sealed fountain”. Early Christians and medieval theologians, associated Mary with this bride. And the enclosed garden symbolises her virginity as well as the lost garden of Eden or paradise, which is redeemable only through Christ’s birth.

The doorway behind Saint Catherine reminds us of Christ saying in John, Chapter 10, verse 9 "I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved."

While reflecting on this painting I imagined myself coming through the doorway into this place of paradise. I wondered if it would look exactly like this garden or different?

I also wondered what item, like the Saints, that I would have to symbolise an important aspect of my life. Maybe it would be a bunch of paint brushes, or a small child at my side.

Advent 3 - Sunday 11 December

This Sunday's art piece is Madonna and child with saints in the enclosed garden.

The italicised notes are from here.

Mary and Child are in a walled garden, surrounded by saints – from left to right, Catherine, John the Baptist, Barbara, and Anthony Abbot.

The garden enclosure represents both the virginity of Mary and the protective shelter of paradise – paradise being accessible to the faithful only through Christ and the intercession of the saints on their behalf.

Look carefully for the symbols each saint has ... what are they? What may they symbolise?

More on Advent 1

Here are some thoughts (via Pete Majendie) on the Advent 1 postcard art image;
The Madonna del Parto

Piero Della Francesca

C.S. Lewis explained the right way to look at a work of art when he said "We sit down before a picture in order to have something done to us, not that we may do things with it. The first demand any work demands of us is to surrender. Look. Listen. Receive."

"By venerating Mary (not worshiping her of course), we come more fully to know who we are; simple humans, like Mary, called upon to bear Christ in our bodies, through our lives, to our world, whispering “I am the Lord’s servant." Brian McLaren.

These quotes help me to look at art in general – the Mclaren quote this painting in particular. For me this painting speaks of the humanity of Jesus (I think the divineness is more readily recognised and accepted)– the ordinariness and vulnerability of Mary.
Mary – pose – natural gesture (hands on hip and belly – the pregnant lean).
Apprehension and distracted look beneath half-closed eyes
Looking down at unlaced antenatal gown - the long white gash shape is reminiscent of the wound inflicted in Christ’s side. It has been described as vaginal in shape, representing new birth – Christ being born in us.

There is a long history of two angels holding open drapes (Angels are mirror images) - signifies revelation, usually of a body, but here reveals new life.
Also depicts tabernacle – (eleven curtains of goat hair – Exodus 36:8,14 )

Symmetry of figure alludes to her role as a mystical tabernacle – keeper of the Holy of Holies – bearer of the New Covenant

Paintings of pregnant Mary are rare (8) - were banned during Reformation and destroyed during 16th & 17th Centuries – this one, in a tiny rural village, was protected by local women.
Original picture not all there -detached from wall and moved.

Piero was famous as a mathematician. His book on perspective greatly influenced Leonardo Da Vinci. The painting depicts the complete Gospel story.

More on Advent 2

Here are my reflections on Sunday's artpiece - info on Boucher from here, and art reflections mine.

Mary and Elizabeth
Painted 1996
by Father Claude Boucher & Tambala Myponyani

Claude Boucher was born in Montreal, Canada in 1941. As a child he was became very interested in Africa spending many hours in a local African museum.

He inherited his mother’s artistic ability and from the age of four was drawing and doing work in pastels.

Later at school, his teachers recognised his ability and encouraged him in his art. As a young man, he worked with a variety of artistic techniques and exhibited his work.

In 1962 he felt called to become a priest, specifically to join the Society of the Missionaries of Africa, popularly known as the White Fathers.

When he went into seminary Claude was convinced that he should leave his artistic career behind. To be a priest and an artist at the same time
seemed to him a contradiction.

And at seminary he was encouraged to leave behind what the theology of the time called the “old Adam”… The old man, his old self…

Except when the church needed to be decorated for Christmas and other major feasts, Then they were quick to utilise his artistic talents!

Boucher was only allowed to paint at the request of his superiors, who also permitted him, in his quiet times, to paint meditative works, depicting his spiritual experiences

He was occasionally asked to produce some minor commissions for the community, and he produced a variety of artistic and theatrical works, including a pavilion at Montreal’s World Exhibition in 1967.

Despite his own earlier intentions and the mindset of his superiors at the seminary, when Claude Boucher was ordained priest in 1967, he cannot be said to have left behind the old man, the artist.
What he had begun, in fact, was to integrate the “old man” of culture with the “new man” of religion.

And this is an essential aspect in understanding his later work – both his missionary work and works of art including this one.

Claude Boucher went to Malawi in December 1967.

Soon after he arrived he started to create a series of slides later called “The Good News of Jesus Christ”.
In more than 2,000 photos Claude Boucher re-created biblical scenes featuring Malawians in the Malawian countryside.
He did this deliberately to demonstrate that Christ has become human not only in Israel but also in Malawi.

He said of this work,
“I asked myself how Malawians might be helped to recognise Jesus as their brother. For them it doesn’t matter very much whether Jesus has a white or black face. What is far more important
is whether his attitude and behavior are African, What are the paths on which he walks
and what are the landscapes he moves through?”

He said:
“I had a technicolor dream: the dream of letting the Gospel shine in the hues and tints of ordinary day-to-day life in Malawi.”

He began to discover other artists and craftspeople, and learned skills in traditional carving for himself.

In 1970 Claude Boucher met a young man named Tambala Myponyani who would become a very skilled painter.

Together Claude and Tambala decorated many churches in the years that followed. They became close friends, and work colleagues, both in art and administrating an Art and Craft centre, an art academy oriented towards the local culture.

In that academy many African artists were trained, as they reflected on what the Christian story meant to them within the context of their own culture, and how they could portray that
using a variety of artistic techniques.

We tend to understand artists as autonomous, with the art being the work of some-one.
African artists, on the other hand, are far more aware that every work of art owes a great deal to the community from which it comes.

And so this piece was produced. A collaborative work by a French Canadian Catholic Priest
and a Malawian lay person.

Mary and Elizabeth are both African, Malawian.
In Malawian countryside, with grass-thatched huts.
There is a tired-looking donkey
And an old man on his stoop, is that Zechariah?

A road leads down from the mountains.
An acacia tree shows green leaves

Mary has her hand on Elizabeth’s stomach,
feeling the kicks - the leaps - of Elizabeth’s baby
the baby who will be John the Baptist.

Elizabeth acknowledges heaven as she speaks her words of blessing to Mary

The coming of Mary was also a coming of Elizabeth’s Lord.
And Elizabeth’s baby recognised the Christ-baby within Mary.

Behind the horizon, a sun, (but not the same sun that casts the shadows)
Shows red and white rays.
White for purity, for Christmas?
Red for the cleansing blood
of the Saviour who is Christ the Lord?

Two black clouds hover
Are they threatening?
Or are they (in this African landscape) clouds of promise?
Promising rain to parched land
Promising spiritual refreshment for parched souls?

Like in last week’s piece, there is a curtain motif.
With the pattern at the centre of the sun splitting from heaven down, as Jesus Christ breaks into our world.

Questions I wondered about in relation to this piece…
How could an artist paint Mary and Elizabeth today
In Aotearoa New Zealand
In your neighbourhood?
Because they were everyday women, in everyday towns.

And as we think about the artists, particularly about Boucher,
What are our natural talents, our God-given talents that God would have us use for God’s glory?

What promise is dwelling within us this Advent?

And finally, where do we need
Where do you need
God to rain refreshment on parched land.

Advent 2 - Sunday 4 December

The art piece for this Sunday is Mary and Elizabeth,
painted by Tampala Myponyani and Father Claude Boucher in 1996.

So much of our Christmas art features very European looking characters.
Marys with pale skin and light coloured hair.
It is easy to forget Mary was not European.

And yet I also want to remember
that Mary was a local chick.
A "girl-next-door",
an anybody.

And so I like the contextual nature of this piece.
Mary and Elizabeth as African women,
meeting each other with excitement and worship.