First Sunday of Advent

Title: Annunciation

Artist: Matthew Whitney

Medium: Oil on canvas

Size: 61 x 76 cm

Date: 2008

Location: Private Collection

Luke 1:26-31 -- And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.”

Mary, as captured by the frenetic brush of Matthew Whitney, looks more than just troubled, but rather terrified and utterly confused. Her bedroom is virtually invaded from both sides of the canvas. To the left Gabriel tries to delicately to bring her the message of the lord, his exhortation “Fear not” seeming to have little effect; to the right a menagerie of startling and grotesque animals force their way into the scene, although they, too, seem to hold Mary in reverence, prefiguring the animals in the manger.

Matthew Whitney is a multidisciplinary artist and educator who lives and works in Seattle, Washington. This painting was made as part of The Vancouver Project, a two week art residency at Regent College in Vancouver, BC. Selected Pacific Northwest-based artists created this visual art exhibition contemplating the beautiful, grotesque and sublime. The project provides a conduit for churches and other faith-based groups to support artists through project patronage, and hosting the art and artists in their community. More of Matthew’s art can be seen on his website http://www.matthewwhitney.com

Luke for Lent - Part 1 of 7

The Lenten season, a time for fasting and abstinence, can also be a time for prayer and reflection. As the Gospel According to Luke has many unique parables, teachings, and narrative episodes, Lent seems like the ideal time to have a look at a few paintings inspired by some of these passages.

Title: Annunciation to the Shepherds

Artist: Adam Pynacker

Medium: Oil on Panel

Size: 38.7 cm

Date: ca. 1640

Location: The Legion of Honor, San Francisco.

Luke 2:8-15: And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

Although the Nativity narrative is also found in Matthew, the details of each account differ. Unique to Luke is the inclusion on the annunciation to the shepherds. Whereas Matthew records the recognition of Jesus by Magi, men of high reputation and standing, Luke describes the visit of shepherds, people of low esteem. Because their work prevented them from keeping the ceremonial law, shepherds were a despised class. Often regarded as thieves, they were considered unreliable and not allowed to give evidence in court. This is the beauty of Luke's gospel: God puts equal importance on each of us no matter our present station. Note as well that the angel calls Jesus “Savior”, one of only two times this word is used in reference to Jesus in all four Gospels (cf. John 4:42), a most outstanding term to be used for a new baby.

Adam Pynacker (1622 - 1673) was a Dutch landscape painter, active mainly in Delft and in Amsterdam. Having spent some time in Italy, he was one of the outstanding Dutch exponents of Italianate landscapes. In 1658 he converted to Catholicism in order to marry Eva Maria de Geest, daughter of renowned Dutch painter Wybrand de Geest. Pynacker’s style resembles that of Jan Both and Jan Asselyn, but his mature work often has a distinctive and attractive silvery tonality all his own, perfect for capturing the nocturnal arrival of an angel of the Lord.

The Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 9

Title: The Assumption of the Virgin
Artist: Francesco Botticini
Medium: Tempera on wood panel
Size: 228.6 x 377.2 cm
Date: 1476
Location: National Gallery, London. 

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Nine Ladies Dancing...

The dancing ladies are thought to represent either the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit, or, as depicted in this large painting by Florentine painter Francesco Botticini , the nine choirs of angels. The most influential Christian angelic hierarchy was that put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 4th or 5th century and Thomas Aquinas drew on passages from the New Testament, specifically Ephesians 1:21 and Colossians 1:16, to develop a schema of three Hierarchies, Spheres or Triads of angels, with each Hierarchy containing three Orders or Choirs. Although both authors drew on the New Testament, the Biblical canon is relatively silent on the subject. Thus these hierarchies are highly speculative.

Corpus Christi

Title: A Blessed Abbes Receiving the Host from the Hands of Christ
Artist: Giovanni Battista Gaulli
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 75 x 43 cm
Date: 1690s
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Luke 22:19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

The Feast of Corpus Christi, or the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (as it is often called today), goes back to the 13th century, but it celebrates something far older: the institution of the Sacrament of Holy Communion at the Last Supper. On September 8, 1264, Pope Urban IV issued the papal bull "Transiturus," which established the Feast of Corpus Christi as a universal feast of the Church, to be celebrated on the Thursday following Trinity Sunday.

Giovanni Battista Gaulli (May 1639 –April 1709), also known as Baciccio, Il Baciccio or Baciccia (all Genoese nicknames for Giovanni Battista), was a painter of the Italian High Baroque. As the High Baroque movement evolved into the more playful Rococo, and the popularity of this style dwindled, Baciccio too moved in this direction. Thus, in contrast to the grandeur of his composition of the illusionistic vault fresco in the church of the Gesù in Rome, we see him gradually adopting less intense colors, and more delicate compositions after 1685 - all hallmarks of the Rococo. Baciccio is best known for his grand, Gianlorenzo Bernini-influenced  vault fresco in the church of the Gesù.

Trinity Pietà

Title: Trinity Pietà
Artist: Master of Sankt Laurenz
Medium: Oil on oak panel
Size: 23 x 16 cm
Date: 1415-30
Location: Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne.

Trinity Sunday, a moveable feast also known as Holy Trinity Sunday, is celebrated a week after Pentecost Sunday in honor of the most fundamental of Catholic beliefs - belief in the Holy Trinity. As expressed in the Athanasian creed (ascribed to Saint Athanasius, c. 296-373), “There is, therefore, one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits; and in this Trinity there is nothing first or later, nothing greater or less, but all three Persons are coeternal and coequal with one another, so that in every respect, as has already been said above, both unity in Trinity, and Trinity in unity must be venerated.”

The Man of Sorrows in the arms of God the Father with the Holy Ghost between them both is often termed a Trinity Pietà. The depiction is more common in French and Burgundian court painting from the end of the fourteenth century onwards. In this example, the Man of Sorrows is flanked by four angels, with two of them holding the Flagellation column, the scourge, the stick with the sponge and the lance. The panel is attributed to the Master of Sankt Laurenz (St Lawrence), the pupil of the Cologne Master of St Veronica. It is also assumed that this small panel was the left wing of a diptych having, on the right, a Mater Dolorosa.

Easter Sunday - Mary Magdalene at the Tomb

Title: Mary Magdalene at the Tomb
Artist: Antiveduto Gramatica
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 120 x 157 cm
Date: 1620-22
Location: The Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

John 20:11-13 - Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” she said, “They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him.”

Such heavenly messengers appear at many of the significant points in salvation history. Their presence witnesses that the powers of heaven have been at work here. Often in Scripture the person who encounters an angel is struck with terror. But if Mary felt such a reaction, John does not mention it. Indeed, there is no indication that she even recognizes them as angels, presumably due to the depth of her grief. The angels speak to her with great compassion. In the face of this grief the angels do not bombard her with good news but rather ask the question that can lead to the healing word.

Antiveduto Gramatica (c. 1571 – April 1626), was a was a proto-Baroque Italian painter, active near Rome. He was born in either Siena or Rome, and according to Giovanni Baglione the artist was given the name Antiveduto ("foreseen") because his father had a premonition that he would be soon be born during a journey between his native Siena and Rome. It was in Rome that Antiveduto was baptised, raised and based his career.

The Assumption of the Virgin

Title: The Assumption of the Virgin
Artist: Ambrogio Bergognone
Medium: Oil and gold on wood
Size: 242.3 x 108 cm
Date: c. 1510
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The Assumption of Mary is a belief held by many Christians that the Virgin Mary, at the end of her life, was physically taken up into heaven. The earliest known narrative is the so-called Liber Requiei Mariae (The Book of Mary's Repose), a narrative which survives intact only in an Ethiopic translation. Probably composed by the 4th century, this early Christian apocryphal narrative may be as early as the 3rd century. The Roman Catholic Church teaches as dogma that Mary, "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." Pope John Paul II quoted John 14:3 as a scriptural basis for understanding the dogma. In this verse, Jesus tells his disciples at the Last Supper, “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." According to Catholic theology, Mary is the pledge of the fulfillment of Christ's promise.

This picture, which dates from the early sixteenth century, was likely Bergognone's first treatment of this subject, and was the center panel of a large polyptych. Its delicacy is typical of his work, and there is the influence of Leonardo's facial types. The metal stars on the Virgin's mantle and the gold spandrels are later additions while the gilding on the lettering on the haloes is almost entirely gone.

Ambrogio Borgognone, variously known as Ambrogio da Fossano, Ambrogio di Stefano da Fossano, Ambrogio Stefani da Fossano or as il Bergognone (c. 1470s – 1523/1524), was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Milanese school. While he was nearly contemporary with Leonardo da Vinci, he painted in a style more akin to the pre-Renaissance, Lombard art of Vincenzo Foppa and Bernardino Zenale. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. His fame is principally associated with his work at the Certosa di Pavia complex, composed of the church and convent of the Carthusians.

19 IMAGES FROM THE 19th CENTURY: PART 6 - Angels Ministering to Christ in the Wilderness

Title: Angels Ministering to Christ in the Wilderness
Artist: Thomas Cole
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: tbd
Date: 1843
Location: Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Ma.

19 IMAGES FROM THE 19th CENTURY: PART 6

Matthew 4:10-11 Jesus said to him, Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

In this painting Cole provides us with two sources of primary light – the distant horizon and the celestial spot light that shines down directly on an exhausted yet satisfied Christ. The angles, supplicant in their service, provide food and drink. In contrast to the barren stretches of landscape behind him, Jesus is very cozy in the intimate group in the foreground. Despite the esteem with which Cole's allegorical works were regarded, some patrons preferred his identifiably American scenes. Cole was disappointed at this preference, and paintings like Angels Ministering to Christ in the Wilderness seem to be an attempt to satisfy both his desire for scenes invested with moral or literary meaning, and his patrons desire for pastoral and natural imagery.

Thomas Cole (February 1801 – February, 1848) was an English-born American artist. He is regarded as the founder of the Hudson River School, an American art movement that flourished in the mid-19th century. Cole's Hudson River School, as well as his own work, was known for its realistic and detailed portrayal of American landscape and wilderness, which feature themes of romanticism and naturalism. He was born in Bolton, Lancashire, England, and in 1818 his family emigrated to the United States, settling in Steubenville, Ohio. Cole learned the rudiments of his profession from a wandering portrait painter named Stein. However, he had little success painting portraits, and his interest shifted to landscape. Cole's unexpected death in 1848 at the young age of forty-seven was deeply mourned in New York art and literary circles. Both his art and his legacy provided the foundation for the native landscape school that dominated American painting until the late 1860s.

TWENTY SAINTS IN TWENTY DAYS: PART 16 – ST PETER

Title: The Liberation of St Peter
Artist: Gerrit van Honthorst
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 129 x 179 cm
Date: 1616-18
Location: Staatliche Museen, Berlin.

TWENTY SAINTS IN TWENTY DAYS: PART 16 – ST PETER

Simon Peter (possibly died AD 67), was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Peter was the son of John or of Jonah and was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee. His brother Andrew was also an apostle. Simon Peter is venerated in multiple churches and is regarded as the first Pope by the Roman Catholic Church. Acts of the Apostles 12:3–19 tells how Peter was put into prison by King Herod, but the night before his trial an angel appeared to him, and told him to leave. Peter's chains fell off, and he followed the angel out of prison. Scholars have noted the direct divine intervention in this narrative, and it is contrasted to the story of James, who was executed by Herod. That James should die while Peter should escape is a mystery of divine providence. It has been suggested that this incident is portrayed as being a type of resurrection for Peter. One of the major themes of the Book of Acts is that "Christ’s servants follow in His footsteps," and events of the chapter "recapitulate the resurrection of Jesus."

A sense of Baroque drama is found in Van Honthorst's Liberation of St Peter. The artist was beloved for his nocturnes, so much so that the Italians called him "Gherardo della Notte". In this painting, the Utrecht artist made the entrance of Peter's liberating angel into the light source, so illuminating the dark prison by a celestial blaze that pours in through the suddenly opened door. The angel’s outstretched hand and flowing garments capture a sense of urgency and movement, but Peter is still surprised, unable to fully comprehend what he sees, thinking “he was seeing a vision”.

Gerrit van Honthorst, also known as Gerard van Honthorst (November 1592 - April 1656), was a Dutch painter and a leading member of the Utrecht school influenced by the Italian painter Caravaggio. He was born in Utrecht as the son of a textile painter. His younger brother Willem also became a painter. Van Honthorst was apprenticed to Abraham Bloemaert, the most celebrated master in Utrecht, and went to Italy around 1610-1615, when Caravaggio's influence there was at its height. During his career, Van Honthorst's overwhelming success brought him tremendous wealth and he lived in the lap of luxury. Rembrandt's use of Caravaggesque devices in his early works derives in large part from his knowledge of Honthorst's paintings.

TWENTY SAINTS IN TWENTY DAYS: PART 12 – ST MICHAEL

Title: The Archangel St Michael
Artist: Jaume Huguet
Medium: Tempera, stucco reliefs and gold leaf on wood
Size: 213 x 136 cm
Date: c. 1455-1460
Location: Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona.

TWENTY SAINTS IN TWENTY DAYS: PART 12 – ST MICHAEL

Saint Michael the Archangel (Hebrew “who is like God" mi-ke-El) is an archangel in Jewish, and Islamic tradition, and has been part of Christian teachings since the earliest times. Only Michael is called an archangel in the Bible. He is viewed as the field commander of the Army of God. He is mentioned by name in the Book of Daniel, the Book of Jude, and the Book of Revelation, in which he leads God's armies against Satan's forces during his uprising. The original meaning of the name Michael gave rise to the Latin phrase ‘Quis ut Deus?’ which can be seen on many artistic portrayals when he rhetorically and scornfully asks ‘Who is like God?’ as he defeats Satan. The Prayer to Saint Michael is part of the Roman Catholic Ritual and can be used as part of the Roman Catholic practice of exorcism. His other roles include saving souls at the hour of death, weighing souls on Judgment Day and acting as Guardian of the Church.

The painting belongs to the central compartment of the altarpiece of Saint Michael of the Retailers. The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya has five more compartments from the same work. The altarpiece comes from the chapel of the Shopkeepers' and Retailer's guild, in the church of Santa Maria del Pi, Barcelona. The other panels include such well known depictions of St. Michael as ‘Apparition of Saint Michael at the Castle of Sant'Angelo’, and ‘Saint Michael Vanquishes the Antichrist’. In this portrait, Huguet style combines Gothic traditions (compressed space and generous use of gilding) with a certain Flemish realism in the depiction of the figures.

Jaume Huguet (1412 - 1492) was a Catalan painter, who is considered to represent the golden age of Catalan Gothic painting. Originally from Valls, he moved to Tarragona to stay with his uncle Pere Huguet, who was also a painter. When they moved to Barcelona he was exposed to modern trends of the time. Between 1440 and 1445 he worked in Zaragoza and later in Tarragona, where he was influenced by the Flemish style of Luis Dalmau. His studio produced many sumptuous composite altarpieces of the type that became typical in Spanish art and his work exercised a wide influence on the painting of Catalonia and Aragón.

TWENTY SAINTS IN TWENTY DAYS: PART 3 – ST MATTHEW

Title: St Matthew and the Angel
Artist: Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 93 x 125 cm
Date: c. 1534
Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

TWENTY SAINTS IN TWENTY DAYS: PART 3 – ST MATTHEW

St. Matthew, the son of Alpheus (Mark 2:14) was a Galilean, and a tax-gatherer at Capharnaum. He collected custom duties for Herod Antipas, and, although a Jew, was despised by the Pharisees, who hated all publicans. When summoned by Jesus, Matthew followed Him and tendered Him a feast in his house, where tax-gatherers and sinners sat at table with Christ and His disciples. This drew a protest from the Pharisees whom Jesus rebuked in these consoling words: "I came not to call the just, but sinners". No further allusion is made to Matthew in the Gospels, except in the list of the Apostles. As a disciple and Apostle he therefore would have followed Christ, accompanying Him up to the time of His Passion and, and was one of the witnesses of His Resurrection and Ascension. Of Matthew's subsequent career we have only inaccurate or legendary data. St. Irenæus tells us that Matthew preached the Gospel among the Hebrews, St. Clement of Alexandria claiming that he did this for fifteen years before going into Gentile nations.

In the St Matthew and the Angel, an angel appears in the darkness to inspire the seated evangelist. Strangely distorting light and shadows play across their drapery and faces, the result of illumination from a small oil lamp placed like a footlight on the table below and in front of them. In the dark recesses at the right two men attend to a seated figure. Flames and sparks from the fireplace throw the three figures into relief, catching St Matthew's hands and face with their light, but consigning the rest of his body to near total darkness. At the far left four small figures wander along a moonlit street. Matthew's peasant's hands, rumpled clothes, contorted neck, and slightly scruffy beard all contribute to the immediacy of the scene, so convincingly real as to be unsettling.

Girolamo Savoldo, also called Girolamo da Brescia (c. 1480 – after 1548) was an Italian High Renaissance painter. Active mainly in Venice, his output was small and his career is said to have been unsuccessful, but he is now remembered as a highly attractive minor master whose work stands somewhat apart from the main Venetian tradition. He carefully studied the effects of light and reflections in a way that was most unusual for the time, and had links to the current of realism and acute psychological portrayal. The exact date of Savoldo's death is not known: in 1548 he was cited as still living in Venice, though vecchione ("Very old").

The Morning of the Resurrection

Title: The Morning of the Resurrection
Artist: Edward Coley Burne-Jones
Medium: Oil on wood
Size: 84.5 x 151.1 cm
Date: 1886
Location: Tate Britain, London.

John 20:11-14 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She said, “They have taken my Lord away, and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

Burrne-Jones began this painting in 1882, but did not complete it until four years later, when it was exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery. After the death of the Hon. Laura Lyttleton (nee Tennant), a young friend of whom the artist was particularly fond, Burne-Jones inscribed a personal memorial or 'oblation' in the lower left-hand corner. He made at least two other versions of the subject. The painting falls at the end of Burne-Jones' Mantegnesque phase, and the regular horizontals and verticals and color strengthen the sad mood. According to de Lisle the angels are making the ancient sign of adoration, of covering the mouth.

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet (August 1833 – June 1898) was an English artist and designer closely associated with the later phase of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who worked closely with William Morris on a wide range of decorative arts as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company. Burne-Jones was closely involved in the rejuvenation of the tradition of stained glass art in England. On 16 June 1933, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, a nephew of Burne-Jones, officially opened a centenary exhibition at the Tate Gallery in London. But in fact, long before 1933, Burne-Jones was hopelessly out-of-fashion in the art world, much of which soon preferred the major trends in Modern art, and the exhibit marking the 100th anniversary of his birth was a sad affair, poorly attended. It was not until the mid-1970s that his work began to be re-assessed and once again acclaimed. A major exhibit in 1989 at the Barbican Art Gallery, London traced Burne-Jones's influence on the next generation of artists, and another at Tate Britain in 1997 explored the links between British Aestheticism and Symbolism.

The Dream of St Joseph

Title: The Dream of St Joseph
Artist: Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 105 x 83 cm
Date: 1655
Location: Museum Of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary.

Matthew 2:13: When the Wise Men had left, Joseph had a dream. In the dream an angel of the Lord appeared to him. "Get up!" the angel said. "Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you to come back. Herod is going to search for the child. He wants to kill him."

Jesus' miraculous escape here should not lead us to overlook the nature of his deliverance (compare, for example, 1 Kings 17:2-6). Jesus and his family survived, but they survived as refugees, abandoning any livelihood Joseph may have had at home as they were undoubtedly traveling lightly. Although travel within Egypt was may have been easy for visitors with means, many Judeans had traditionally regarded refuge in Egypt as a last resort.

Figures or scenes from the New Testament are relatively rare in the works of seventeenth-century Dutch painters. For Rembrandt, however, the Bible was an inexhaustible source of inspiration, providing with him innumerable examples of human joys and sorrows. The Holy family is shown resting in a dim stable; Mary is protected from the cold by a large shawl which she has also folded round the Infant on her lap so that only his tiny face is visible. Joseph, depicted as a clumsy Dutch peasant, is seen awakening from the sleep of exhaustion, dazed by a brilliant apparition which puts a hand on his shoulder as a sign of heavenly comfort, support and encouragement for the weak. The angel is the source of the warm golden light suffusing the whole group.

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July, 1606 – October, 1669) was a Dutch painter and etcher. He is generally considered one of the greatest painters and printmakers in European art history, his work contributing to a period that historians call the Dutch Golden Age. In contrast to his successful public career, however, Rembrandt's family life was marked by misfortune. His wife, Saskia, gave birth to four children, but only the last, Titus, survived; her own death came in 1642 at the age of 30. And despite Rembrandt's financial success as an artist, teacher, and art dealer, his penchant for ostentatious living forced him to declare bankruptcy in 1656.

Adoration of the Shepherds

Title: Adoration of the Shepherds
Artist: Charles Le Brun
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 151 x 213 cm
Date: 1689
Location: Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Luke 2:16-19: So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby. The baby was lying in the manger. After the shepherds had seen him, they told everyone. They reported what the angel had said about this child. All who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary kept all these things like a secret treasure in her heart. She thought about them over and over.

This birth is no mere arrival of a new life, as poignant as each such event is. The story is not told so that hearers can identify with the new mother and father or enjoy a story of hope, of a touching birth in humble surroundings. This birth has value because of whose birth it is. The shepherds have found that the angel's words were true, that events have transpired just as they had been told. God's word is coming to pass; his plan is again strategically at work. They break out in praise to God because he has sent Jesus, the Savior, Lord and Christ. This picture shows how clever Le Brun was at composition, at mingling the world beyond with earthly life and at controlling the fantastic effects of the light produced by a screened fire.

Charles Le Brun (February, 1619, - February 1690), was a French painter and designer who became the arbiter of artistic production in France during the last half of the 17th century. After training with Vouet he went to Rome in 1642 and worked under Poussin, becoming a convert to the latter's theories of art. He returned to Paris in 1646. Possessing both technical facility and the capacity to organize and carry out many vast projects, Le Brun personally created or supervised the production of most of the paintings, sculptures, and decorative objects commissioned by the French government for three decades during the reign of Louis XIV. Under his direction French artists created a homogeneous style that came to be accepted throughout Europe as the paragon of academic and propagandistic art.

The Angels appearing to the Shepherds

Title: The Angels appearing to the Shepherds
Artist: William Blake
Medium: Pencil, pen and ink (brown) & watercolor
Size: 25.5 x 19.3 cm
Date: 1809
Location: The Whitworth Art gallery, Manchester.

Luke 2:8-15: There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby. It was night, and they were looking after their sheep. An angel of the Lord appeared to them. And the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy. It is for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. Here is how you will know I am telling you the truth. You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger." Suddenly a large group of angels from heaven also appeared. They were praising God. They said, "May glory be given to God in the highest heaven! And may peace be given to those he is pleased with on earth!" The angels left and went into heaven. Then the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem. Let's see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

Joy comes with an angelic proclamation of good news (euangelizomai). The message is for all the people. Though in the original context such a messianic announcement would have been understood as being for the people of Israel, the development of Jesus' ministry shows that Jesus' work reaches beyond such national boundaries. As with other incidents in the infancy material, the angel describes a sign: the shepherds will know this announcement is true when they see the child in a manger. The angelic announcement does not come in mystical isolation; it connects to concrete events.

William Blake (November 1757 – August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Blake is considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. Reverent of the Bible but hostile to the Church of England, Blake was influenced by the ideals and ambitions of the French and American revolutions, as well as by such thinkers as Jacob Boehme and Emanuel Swedenborg. Blake's work was neglected for a generation after his death and was almost forgotten when Alexander Gilchrist began work on his biography in the 1860s. The publication of the Life of William Blake rapidly transformed Blake's reputation, in particular as he was taken up by Pre-Raphaelites and associated figures, in particular Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Algernon Charles Swinburne. It was in the twentieth century, however, that Blake's work was fully appreciated and his influence increased.

Joseph is Visited by an Angel

Title: Joseph is Visited by an Angel
Artist: Sadao Watanabe
Medium: Color stencil print
Size: 19.7 x 18.4 cm
Date: 1979
Location: Private collection.

Matthew 1:18-21: This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary and Joseph had promised to get married. But before they started to live together, it became clear that she was going to have a baby. She became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph was a godly man. He did not want to put her to shame in public. So he planned to divorce her quietly. But as Joseph was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. The baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit. She is going to have a son. You must give him the name Jesus. That is because he will save his people from their sins."

The basic account of the virgin birth is from an earlier tradition than either of the Gospels that describe Jesus' infancy; neither Gospel is clearly dependent on the other. Members of Jesus' family remained in positions of prominence in early Christianity when this pre-Matthew tradition (shared with Luke) was circulating. But Matthew is less concerned to prove the virgin birth to his audience, which both accepted Jesus as Messiah and acknowledged the miraculous. Matthew is more interested in teaching, and an important lesson his narrative teaches is that Jesus' birth fulfills Scripture.

Sadao Watanabe (1913 – 1996), was born and grew up in Tokyo. He was a Japanese printmaker famous for his biblical prints rendered in the mingei (folk art) tradition of Japan. The artist specialized in depictions of scenes from the bible, shown in a naive-looking, sometimes humerous, Japanese-like style. As a youth Watanabe was influenced by a teacher to become a Christian and was baptized in 1930. When he became severely ill with tuberculosis, a disease that could easily kill in those days, Watanabe vowed to study the Bible and spread the Christian story through artwork if he should recover.

Annunciation

Title: Annunciation
Artist: Francisco Goya
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 40.3 x 23.2 cm
Date: c. 1785
Location: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Luke 1:34-38: "How can this happen?" Mary asked the angel. "I am a virgin." The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come to you. The power of the Most High God will cover you. So the holy one that is born will be called the Son of God. Your relative Elizabeth is old. And even she is going to have a child. People thought she could not have children. But she has been pregnant for six months now. Nothing is impossible with God." Mary answered, "I serve the Lord. May it happen to me just as you said it would." Then the angel left her.

The portrait Luke paints of Mary is significant. She is a model believer, taking God at his word, in contrast to Zechariah. She is favored of God, thoughtful, obedient, believing, worshipful and a faithful follower of God's law. It must be emphasized, however, that despite all these qualities, God's choice of Mary to bear this child springs from his grace, not from any inherent merit that she possesses. She is the object of God's unmerited, graciously provided goodness. Her description as one who has found favor with God makes it clear that God has acted on her behalf and not because of her. In fact, Mary is totally perplexed by the sudden announcement. She did not ask for or seek this role in God's plans; God has simply stepped into her life and brought her into his service. Her asset is that she is faithful.

This painting, a sketch for a large altarpiece in a monastic chapel in Madrid, gives us a unique glimpse into Goya's creative process. The quick, fluid brushstrokes demonstrate the rapid technique used for a preliminary study. Many changes were made in the final version: the image of God the Father was omitted, and the positions of the Virgin and the angel Gabriel reversed. The fresh, spring-like colors are characteristic of Goya's early style; his later works are much more somber.

Francisco De Goya y Lucientes (March 1746 - April 1828), was a Spanish artist whose multifarious paintings, drawings, and engravings reflected contemporary historical upheavals and influenced important 19th and 20th century painters. Goya was a court painter whose best work was done apart from his official duties. He is known for his scenes of violence, especially those prompted by the French invasion of Spain. The series of etchings Los desastres de la guerra ("The Disasters of War", 1810-14) records the horrors of the Napoleonic invasion.

Ancilla Domini

Title: Ancilla Domini
Artist: Rupert Bunny
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Size: 100.3 x 110.4 cm
Date: 1896
Location: Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

Luke 1: 26-33: In the sixth month after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. He was sent to a virgin. The girl was engaged to a man named Joseph. He came from the family line of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel greeted her and said, "The Lord has given you special favor. He is with you." Mary was very upset because of his words. She wondered what kind of greeting this could be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary. God is very pleased with you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king like his father David of long ago. He will rule forever over his people, who came from Jacob's family. His kingdom will never end."

This section of Luke’s Gospel focuses on the simple faith of a teenage girl, Mary. As a young girl, of perhaps twelve or fourteen years old, Mary would have has virtually no social status with which to expect such a laudatory greeting. Indeed, it is easy to understand why she would have been “troubled” by such words. There is a Pre-Raphaelite influence in this work that is evident in the way that the artist has used the bright, flat surface of the red drape to frame the action and turn the angel into a monumental silhouette; other Pre-Raphaelite touches include the black-and-white tiled floor and the compressed space of the room with its low platform or dais. The influence of Symbolism abounds as well: the angel is holding a stem of white lilies, the lily being a Christian symbol for the Virgin Mary; the rose held by Mary is particularly associated with the Virgin, who was known as 'the rose without thorns'; the book on the lectern near Mary's head refers to Mary being in the act of reading when the angel appeared, the passage in question being from the celebrated prophecy of Isaiah (7:14), 'A young woman is with child and she will bear a son'.

Rupert Bunny (September 1864 –May 1947) was one of the generation of Australian artists who went abroad in the later 19th century to extend their training and establish their reputations; Bunny travelled to Europe in 1884, and studied in Paris at the studio of Jean-Paul Laurens (1838-1921), a French artist who specialized in historical and religious subjects; in 1888, Bunny exhibited with the Société des Artistes Français and in 1890 he became the first Australian to gain a 'mention honorable'; he painted many subjects during his long career, including portraits, landscapes, and mythological and religious themes, but is best known for his paintings of women, either languidly reclining single figures or a group in intimate conversation, evoking a luxurious and leisurely world.

Annunciation to Zechariah

Title: Annunciation to Zechariah
Artist: Domenico Ghirlandaio
Medium: Fresco
Size: tbd
Date: 1490
Location: Tornabuoni Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence.

Luke 1:5-25: Herod was king of Judea. During the time he was ruling, there was a priest named Zechariah. He belonged to a group of priests named after Abijah. His wife Elizabeth also came from the family line of Aaron. Both of them did what was right in God's eyes. They obeyed all the Lord's commandments and rules faithfully. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was not able to have any. And they were both very old. One day Zechariah's group was on duty. He was serving as a priest in God's temple. He happened to be chosen, in the usual way, to go into the temple of the Lord. There he was supposed to burn incense. The time came for this to be done. All who had gathered to worship were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah. The angel was standing at the right side of the incense altar. When Zechariah saw him, he was amazed and terrified. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will have a child. It will be a boy, and you must name him John. He will be a joy and delight to you. His birth will make many people very glad. He will be important in the Lord's eyes. He must never use wine or other such drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the time he is born. He will bring many of Israel's people back to the Lord their God. And he will prepare the way for the Lord. He will have the same spirit and power that Elijah had. He will teach parents how to love their children. He will also teach people who don't obey to be wise and do what is right. In this way, he will prepare a people who are ready for the Lord." Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is old too." The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I serve God. I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will have to be silent. You will not be able to speak until after John is born. That's because you did not believe my words. They will come true when the time is right." During that time, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out. They wondered why he stayed in the temple so long. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple. They knew this because he kept motioning to them. He still could not speak. When his time of service was over, he returned home. After that, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant. She stayed at home for five months. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days, he has been kind to me. He has taken away my shame among the people."

The Biblical episode of the apparition of the Angel to Zechariah is portrayed within magnificent Renaissance church architecture. Zechariah is portrayed on the altar in the centre, with the Angel Gabriel suddenly appearing on his left to announce to him that he will have a son. The scene is crowded with six groups of characters on six different levels. Aside from the group of six maidens on the right, the others are all portraits of contemporary Florentine notables. On the lower left are the Renaissance humanists, including Cristoforo Landino (the one with a black collar) and Agnolo Poliziano (the second from right). The figures standing on the right are relatives of the patron; behind them is a self-portrait of Ghirlandaio (the second from right, next to a youngster with long hair, probably his son or brother, who is also present in the Expulsion of Joachim).

Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449 – January 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. Among his many apprentices was the renowned Michelangelo. Ghirlandaio's compositional schema were simultaneously grand and decorous, in keeping with 15th century's restrained and classicizing experimentation. His chiaroscuro, in the sense of realistic shading and three-dimensionalism, was reasonably advanced, as were his perspectives, which he designed on a very elaborate scale by eye alone, without the use of sophisticated mathematics.

Christ in the Wilderness Surrounded by Angels

Title: Christ in the Wilderness Surrounded by Angels

Artist: Charles de La Fosse

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size: 143 x 193 cm

Date: c. 1690

Location: Hermitage, St. Petersburg.

Matthew 4:11: Then the devil leaves him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.

Christ was succored after the temptation, God's agents providing for Jesus' as soon as he has vanquished his foe. After three high-stake tests the devil is driven away, and therefore Jesus can later state, in Matthew 12:29, “How can anyone go into a strong man’s house and steal his property? First he must tie up the strong man. Then he can go through his house and steal his property.” Jesus can say that he is freeing Satan's possessions because he has already bound the strong man. Jesus is the new Moses who will provide bread for his people, whom God will deliver by the resurrection, and who will eventually rule the nations.

This painting shows Jesus on the verge of ecstasy, his face a mixture of triumph and exhaustion. Having put his trust in the Lord he waits, as down, through a celestial light, the angles descend towards him, gather at his feet, bring trays of nourishment. The light from above is golden and cascades like a spotlight across the angels and onto Jesus. But unlike the angels, whose only illumination is from God’s light, Jesus is depicted with a faint nimbus, a sign that he, too, is Holy.

Charles de La Fosse (1636, Paris - 1716, Paris), also spelled Delafosse, was a French painter. Know for his decorative historical and allegorical murals, his work continued a variant of the stately French Baroque manner of the 17th century, while to developing a lighter, more brightly colored style that presaged the Rococo painting of the 18th century. La Fosse was impressed with the works of the 16th-century Italians Francesco Primaticcio, Titian, and Paolo Veronese, which he studied during his five year stay in Rome and Venice. His greatest work was the decoration of the cupola of the Church of Les Invalides in Paris, while more significant to later critics are his smaller works remarkable for their use of light and their fresh color sense. He became a member of the Royal Academy in 1673 and was named chancellor in 1715.