Do you not care that we are perishing?
- Christ Asleep During the Tempest by Delacroix
This coming Sunday the gospel reading is Mk 4:35-41 in which Jesus sleeps on the boat while the terrified disciples try to keep it afloat in a storm. I really like this story as I'm always asking God that same question - do you not care that we are perishing? I guess I'm not the only one attracted to the reading - romantic artist Eugène Delacroix is said to have painted the scene some 14 times. The Metropolitan Museum of Art website states .....
When one of the versions of Christ Asleep during the Tempest was shown in the 1864 Delacroix memorial exhibition, a critic described it as "one of the subjects that Delacroix has caressed most . . . . Everything seduces him in this episode, the whipped-up water, the sky black with storms, the sails torn by the wind, the terror of the sailors, and, above all that, the sweet sleep of the Saviour in the midst of the revolt of nature." Delacroix painted fourteen variations of this New Testament lesson in faith: when awakened by his terrified disciples, Christ scolded them for their lack of trust in Providence. In the earlier works, the seascape is more prominent; in the later ones, as here, Christ's bark occupies a more significant place. After Vincent van Gogh saw this version in Paris in 1886, he wrote, "The 'Christ in the Boat'—I am speaking here of the sketch in blue and green with touches of violet, red and a little citron-yellow for the nimbus, the halo—speaks a symbolic language through color alone."
When I was reading about Delacroix, I was struck by the mention of him being the friend and spiritual heir to Théodore Géricault, for Géricault painted a work that has always intrigued me, and I wonder if it influenced Delacroix's paintings of Christ and the tempest ..... The Raft of the Medusa
Here's another of Delacroix's paintings, Christ on the Sea of Galilee ...
posted by crystal | 11:26 AM
3 Comments:
Can I say that Jesus was way too advance for His first disciples and had put too much trust in their faith! Dare I also say that some might think that He Jesus was not really sleeping when they woke HIM and then other might think that He was just an original god with a little power who enjoyed showing off and not the real true Son of Our Heavenly Father and I'm willing to wager that there are still many who don't believe that He was telling the truth and I would hate to be in these old goats shoes on "The Last Day"
I like to think that Jesus was using the wind to try and explain to their souls and flesh that there was nothing impossible for His Heavenly Father but as we've heard, "IT" took "The Holy Spirit" to do that.
I could go on and on but like they say in the spiritual world, we can lead the eye of the beholder to the water of life but we can't force him and or her to drink.
I hear ya! Is the saying in the real world not, we can lead a horse to water but we can't make "IT" drink!
Stop nit picking Crystal! :)
God Bless,
Peace
Hi Victor,
Maybe Jesus knows something we don't about what's worth worrying about? I really like this reading :)
Maybe I'll find out what He really thinks when I get to spiritual "Grade One" cause He wants U.S. to be perfect like His Heavenly Father is perfect and I, me and myself don't think that we'll get there from her, I mean here but then anything is possible with God.
Thank you for your continued prayer.
God Bless
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