A Year of Inspirers (7) – Michelangelo’s Vision of Humanity

The Sistine Chapel is one of the wonders of human art that is so hard to comprehend. How could one man create such a complex vision of human life? If you look just below the centre, you will see an image which often feature. It is the creation of humanity: Just below this you will …

Encountering an Angel

I find this one of the most beautiful paintings ever painted. Maybe it is the sheer beauty of the angel - the beautiful gold of his wings, his halo, his glowing hair, the beauty of his whole attire, and the glorious rays of light that spring from his body: He has an urgency about him, …

I arise (5) – stepping out of hell

This series explores "The Lorika of St. Patrick"/ "St. Patrick's Breastplate", a beautiful prayer or poem of protection. The next verse is this: I arise through the strength of His descent for the Judgment of Doom This strikes our ears strangely. We need to understand the mediaeval concept of "the harrowing of hell": In this …

More to Life

This beautiful miniature from a manuscript shows us the world: land, sea, river, trees, plants, animals, birds, moon and stars - the whole of creation. We see humanity, male and female, represented by the figures of Adam and Eve, but they are creatively taken out of their typical context, and instead we are invited to …

Advent Art (2) – New Creations

~ In the New Testament, Jesus is sometimes described as “a second Adam”, and Christians as “a new creation”. In the Creation stories of Genesis, something profound is being said. The figure of Adam is “a type of the one to come”. God is Creator, intimately related to all of Creation. “In the beginning was …

An Eternity of Judgment and Grace

This painting is also from The Ghent Altarpiece (see previous post on Adam). . Quizzical she seems Rueful . As if the catastrophe Was never intended . And how was she To know . That a moment’s choice Could bring . An eternity of judgment And grace? . You can see the paintings of both …