09/15/2024
Our church is studying the book of Revelation this fall. Revelation is an invitation to pay attention to what God has done, God is doing, God will do. It is a confrontation with a world of violence and greed. It uses shocking images to tell a story of a better city to come.
Art can give us the same shock and wake us up to hope. We looked at these seven images to see the message of hope of Revelation.
1. Relief from the Arch of Titus Rome.
We don’t know who sculpted it but we know that it was commissioned by the Emperor Domitian after the Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem 70AD.
Domitian commissioned this to show his strength and divinity.
By carving this scene into rock it is as if Domitian is saying that he is stronger than the earth itself. By carving a scene of the destruction of the temple into an archway it is as if Domitian is saying that he is more enduring than the one true God of Israel. You see, Domitian believed he was a god and demanded people to worship him as such.
And he persecuted anyone who didn’t.
The fragile egos of powerful men always leads to violence.
2. Basilica Sant'Apollinare in Classe in Ravenna, Italy.
This basilica that we’re looking at is the Basilica Sant'Apollinare in Classe in Ravenna, Italy.
A basilica is a Roman architectural structure that indicates a seat of political power. When this young American nation was first being built architects used neo-classical forms to suggest that the American nation would be as great as the Roman Empire. The Capitol Building is a very famous basilica.
The large blue and gold cross at the center suggests that the true seat of power is not in Rome, it’s not in Washington DC, it’s not in Wall Street, it’s not in Hollywood. Nor is it in any other empire or nation in history. The true seat of power is the cross of Jesus Christ.
3. The Apocalypse (Revelation 19:11-16), From Apokalypse, Max Beckmann. Executed 1941-42; Published 1943, Coloured lithograph.
What do you think of all the figures concentrated in a jumble? Does it make you consider how messy and confusing battles can be? And check out how strange these birds are with their oversized beaks and eyes. One writer commenting on this lithograph compares it to another Max Beckmann work called Bird’s Hell that depicts the horrors of N**i Germany.
It is as if in this painting based on Revelation 19 Max Beckmann is joining the Apostle John in saying that Jesus – who shines like the sun – is supreme over the wicked empire of his own day.
4. Agnus Dei, Francisco de Zurbaran. 1635-1640. Oil on Canvas. Museo del Prado, Madrid Spain.
Notice how Zurbaran uses light and darkness. The Lamb stands in stark contrast to the matte black and gray background behind it.
It is as if Zurbaran and Revelation are saying that what overcomes darkness is not power and strength but sacrifice and weakness. It is not a devouring lion who drives out darkness, it is a bound and slaughtered lamb.
5. The Fall of Rebel Angels, Pieter Bruegel the Elder. 1562. Oil on panel. Royal Museum of the Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels.
Things you can’t help but notice: All the strange mutant creatures swarming on the bottom half of the painting; the three areas of light and darkness. At the center of the top there is a bright yellowish-white sun. And then in the bottom left corner it is almost complete darkness and then a reddish light shining in the bottom right hand corner.
If you draw a line from the top center you can follow it as it makes a line down to the bottom right. And right at the center of this line is the Archangel Michael and his army, arrayed in light, slaying the Great Beast of Revelation who is belly up and heading towards the open fiery abyss in the bottom left corner.
6. [Los Angeles Vista] Caitlyn Welty, .pets. 2024. Digital Photography.
Consider how Caitlyn uses a desaturated, gray hue. And check out the black frame closing in on the city. Usually when we think of Los Angeles we think of bright pastel colors, Hollywood stars, palm trees, beaches. Right?
But there’s something almost foreboding in this image. The open gate is an invitation but an invitation to what?
When we read about Babylon in Revelation we should think:
Egypt, Rome, The Ottoman Empire, the British Empire. In our American context we should consider the metaphors of Washington DC, Wall Street, and Hollywood.
7. The Supper of the Lamb, Wayne Forte. 2007. Oil on canvas.
Like the photograph of LA there is a wide open gate. But did you notice the differences in the gates? Instead of the graffiti and barbed wire Forte’s gate tells the story of Christ from Creation to New Creation. God is welcoming His creation in, not destroying it.
From beginning to end, God is creating.
God is an artist.
Consider the brightness of this painting in contrast to the darkness of Zurbaran’s Agnus Dei painting. We don’t need to be afraid. Christ was dead but He lives again. This table that the Lamb in Forte’s painting stands at is not appetizers at a funeral, it is a wedding feast.
When we take communion it is not funeral we’re being invited to but to a marriage supper. The story doesn’t end in dark destruction but in colorful new creation.
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We ended the service with a guided Visio Dei prayer using Wayne Forte’s The Supper of the Lamb. And praying in these four steps:
1) Look at the image again. Take in as much detail as you can about the picture.
2) Ask: Is there anything specific that God is trying to show me in this image?
3) Pray in response to what God is showing you.
4) Pay attention. Let your prayers be silent and be aware of God’s presence.
