Holy Week is always hard. But what can often help along with prayer, meditation and services is looking at powerful works of art. Great artists can sometimes capture what words and prayers can’t. In contemplating the depth and beauty of form and colour of a painting, one can gain great solace and uplift. On Maundy Thursday one can turn to Leonardo’s Da Vinci’s The Last Supper; for Good Friday, Velazquez’s Christ Crucified; and for Easter Day the wonderful picture by Lombard Bergognone, Christ Risen from the Tomb.
What they share in common is the serenity depicted in the expression on Jesus’ face. As you know, The Last Supper (c. 1498) portrays the reaction of each apostle when Jesus says one of them would betray him. All twelve apostles contemplate the news with anger, shock and animation. But Jesus remains calm and poised, as if the end is inevitable and nothing will turn him from this journey to the cross.
Velazquez’s Christ Crucified (1632) depicts Jesus on the cross, his head hung low, with a subtle narrow halo surrounding it. Although his long hair covers part of Jesus’ face, enough is revealed to show a calm sincerity as death draws in. Despite the agony of the nails, the blood and harsh crown of thorns, no sense of struggle or pain remains.
Finally, the glorious picture of Christ Risen from the Tomb by Bergognone (c. 1490). Here the risen Christ is shown in all his golden beauty, raising his hand with the stigmata in a triumphant gesture. Christ’s eyes look upwards towards what we can only presume to be his Father in heaven. Bergognone powerfully conveys that Christ is no longer troubled by the cares of his turbulent death. He has passed beyond this, and into his glory. Keeping that image of the Risen Christ in my mind during the Good Friday service helps me to move beyond the words “My god, my God why have you forsaken me?” to the those of Easter morning which the resurrected Jesus shared with Mary Magdalene: “I am ascending to my Father to your Father, to my God to your God”. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples “I have seen the Lord”. (John 20:18)
Charlotte Bannister - Parker
Acting Priest-in-charge
