You Know His Name

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“The true story of every person in this world is not the story you see, the external story. The true story of each person is the journey of his or her heart.” – John Eldredge

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]More than year and a half ago I committed myself to a brutal schedule of back-to-back shifts of waiting tables seven days a week. Facing a never-ending slew of demands and long commutes, I bought into the lie that my value lay solely in my performance and the size of my bank account. Caught up in the tread-mill of performance but making money hand over fist, I began to burn out slowly. On April 1, 2017, I felt a stirring from the Holy Spirit to lay down my second job and become the creative He called me to be. Dismissing the call as a vestige of the flu and the “ravings of a vivid imagination” I resisted at first. Two months later, with nothing but a box of oil crayons and soft pastels, I took a risk. A year later, this artist reports that where there is vision, there is indeed provision. 

As a love letter to the Righteous One and to celebrate Easter, this artist has searched high and low to find the most captivating of works – works that lift the Name Above All Names. I went to master artists and found a treasure trove that did not disappoint. Go with me if you will…[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

“The glory of God is man fully alive.” – St. Irenaeus

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]“Crib of the Infant Christ” Brabant, South Netherlands Wood, Polychrome, Lead, Silver-gilt, Painted Parchment, Silk Embroidery with Seed Pearls, Gold Thread and Translucent Enamels. 15th century Gift of Ruth Blumka in memory of Leopold Blumka The Metropolitan Museum of Art Accession Number: 1974.121 a-d  Dimensions: 13 15/16 x 11 3/8 x 7 1/4 in. Other (pillow): 4 1/4 x 6 3/4 x 1 3/4 in.  Bedcover: 6 7/8 × 6 1/2 × 1/8 in. Other (Cavity under the crib): 2 1/16 × 1 1/8 × 1/4 in.

Miniature cradles for the Christ Child were popular devotional objects in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and were venerated, especially in convents, where they were often presented to women taking their vows. This splendid cradle comes from the Grand Béguinage of Louvain, Belgium, established for lay women in the twelfth century. It is decorated with carved representations of the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi on either end. The biblical family tree of Christ is illustrated on the embroidered coverlet.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”518″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

“Those who had seized Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and the elders gather together.” – Matthew 26:57

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“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.”. – John 19:1

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A supremely gifted and versatile German artist of the Renaissance period, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a brilliant painter, drafstman and writer, whose greatest artistic achievement was the elevation of printmaking as an art form. In these two engravings, the artist illustrates his technical prowess, sensitivity for the craft and dramatic storytelling.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”513″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Another artist given to effective storytelling is Caravaggio. In his usual flair for chiaroscuro and circular movement, the artist highlights the very moment where Judas betrays his Master with a kiss. A light source from the left reveals a confluence of emotions; John, on the far left calls out and flees in haste; the figure on the far right (believed to be a self-portrait of the artist depicted as St. Peter) rushes in. Jesus, their companion and friend of the last three years, is seized by Roman guards like a common criminal. Pandemonium grips the group. Caravaggio uses light to reveal the interaction between Judas and Jesus. The curve of the drapery above and the curvatures of arm movements below, frame the interaction between Judas and Jesus. Judas, hard-hearted, has betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Jesus fails to meet his gaze. It is an epic moment of betrayal.

Regarding the detail of the polished metal-clad arm of the soldier in the center of the picture, Franco Mormando suggests that it serves as a mirror to the viewer. Do we not also betray our knowledge of Jesus in our everyday waking lives?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”522″ img_size=”large” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Isenheim Altarpiece is an altarpiece sculpted and painted by, respectively, the Germans Niclaus of Haguenau and Matthias Grünewald in 1512–1516. It is on display at the Unterlinden Museum at Colmar, Alsace, in France. The museum celebrated the 500th anniversary of the work in 2012. It is Grünewald’s largest work and is regarded as his masterpiece. It was painted for the Monastery of St. Anthony in Isenheim near Colmar, which specialized in hospital work. The Antonine monks of the monastery were noted for their care of plague sufferers as well as their treatment of skin diseases, such as ergotism. The image of the crucified Christ is pitted with plague-type sores, showing patients that Jesus understood and shared their afflictions.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1522263079178{margin-top: 10px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”526″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There’s nothing like the death of Jesus to thin a crowd. Nowhere are the apostles, with the exception of John, who fled. Mary remains behind. She grasps a cloak of yellow, the color of salvation. Here, Dali departs from painting his usual quixotic landscapes to portray Golgotha. The landscape is imbued with somber tones of burnt umber, yellow and gold and our Savior is pinned, suspended above, elevated on a cross.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”527″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Against a distant view of Jerusalem, Christ’s body is lowered into the arms of Saint John the Evangelist under the anguished gaze of Mary Magdalen, who kneels at the foot of the cross. On the left, one of the other Maries supports the swooning Virgin. Although the composition was based on an engraving by the Bolognese printmaker Marcantonio Raimondi (ca. 1480–before 1534), the figures’ thin draperies, elongated silhouettes, and Grecian profiles reflect the influence of the court artist Jean Goujon.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

According to French author André Gide, “Sculptors don’t try to translate their thoughts into marble: they think directly as if everything was made of marble; they think in marble”.

Sanmartino chips away at a single block of marble to depict Christ enshrouded in a diaphanous material. An eloquence of line runs throughout the work. The artist replicates the folds of fabric across the torso of Christ creating fluid movements that engage the eye. At the right side of Christ, we find the implements of His torture: the crown of thorns and the nails that pierced His hands, feet and side.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”531″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

“And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” – Malachi 3:18

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