Art/ Heritage

MARY – A MASTERPIECE: ‘The Education of the Virgin’, an early painting by Diego Velazquez (debatable)

 Today’s painting in consideration is no ordinary artwork. It hit the radar and grabbed the headlines in 2010, heightening public interest and art-politics. The damaged painting titled, ‘The Education of the Virgin’, long relegated to the basement of the Yale University Art Gallery, was reattributed to be the work of the most significant painter of the Spanish Golden Age, Diego Velazquez (1599 – 1660). 

Research, healthy scepticism and correspondence followed. The attribution gained international coverage, if not acceptance.  Though the attribution remains inconclusive, the initiation of a discussion on a public platform is in itself alluring. Mirroring the naturalism and the intellectual capacity of the painter of painters, ‘the Education of the Virgin’ does merit genuine research in terms of visual art and faith.

The story of Velazquez life begins in 1599 in the southern Spanish port of Seville. At that time the city was extremely affluent and was the primary port of trade with the new world. It was also a major religious hub employing an army of artisans to decorate its monasteries, Churches and Cathedrals. Velazquez, quite contrary to his contemporaries, was a secular and court painter to King Phillip the IV. His finest mind and his serenest soul embraced life in totality. It is this integrity and fullness that we encounter in today’s masterpiece.

True to artist’ style, the painting is devoid of frills. No landscape, no architecture, no cluttering details. Velazquez sheds off the non-essentials to draw us to the heart of moment. Against the staggering darkness of the room are placed the four protagonists – Joaquim, Anna, Mary and of course the divine messenger who ushers in a heavenly glow that enlightens the minds and the hearts of the protagonists.

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Travel

Shop, don’t drop !

When I first travelled to Bangkok seventeen years ago I was advised to travel to the country with an empty bag for Bangkok is known for a great bargain. This time though I did not find any deals that I thought were worth it and came back with ‘everything spice’ for my kitchen. For those who still don’t get the name PottyPadre and who have never placed the cursor above the ‘about me ‘ section, I am a chef by profession.

We stayed at the Cirtus Sukhumvit, a very nice hotel in the Sukhumvit area of the city. The area is very touristy, mostly western tourist and also a number of Middle Eastern tourists; the area has several restaurants catering to the cuisine from the Middle East. Sukhumvit is within three metro stops from Siam ( pronounced as see- arm) and depending where you stay in Sukhumvit  it could be a pleasant half hour walk either via the streets level or the pedestrian walk that runs along the ‘mall district’ around Siam.

The sky walk makes shopping easy in the Siam area

While Bangkok is strewn with malls I will limit myself to the Siam and Ploen Chit area of Bangkok. Bangkok’s malls can clearly be categorised into affordable, mid-level and luxury. Take for example the Central Embassy a six story retail podium which is home to the biggest international and local names in fashion, beauty, design, dining and tech with its fancy restaurants and sky terraces that overlook the sights and lights of downtown Bangkok. Situated on the former gardens of the British Embassy, the mall located in Ploen Chit and is accessible by the metro, perhaps the best bet to travel quickly considering that this traffic route is notorious for traffic snarls.  

The Central Embassy Mall
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Faith

Hearing and Listening – Monday, 25th week in ordinary time – Lk 8:16-18

There is a difference between hearing and listening. Often people say, ‘I listened to the other’ when in reality they only heard the other. It is true that they can repeat verbatim what was said without missing a single detail but it is also true that what they repeat does not communicate the heart of the speaker. To listen is to not only be able to repeat content but be able to communicate the emotional talk and the message that accompanied the words said.

Jesus asks us today to “pay attention to how we listen” (verse18)and in doing so He makes a demand of His disciples to not just hear His Words but to understand the message behind those words. He has just finished  preaching the parable on the sower or the parable of the soil as I like to call it and ends it with these words, “ But for that in the good soil, these are the ones who when they HEAR the word hold fast in an honest and good heart and bear fruit with patient endurance.”

This teaching is followed by three proverbial sayings which reflect the theme of hearing and listening and must be understood only in the context of ‘hearing and listening’ the word of God and not seen as three separate or disparate teaching (as some preachers do).

The first teaching is taken from architecture and the placement of light in a house, namely in the foyer or vestibule which is a smaller room as you enter a house before you proceed to the other rooms. For Jesus, lighting a lamp and hiding it under a jar or under a bed is foolishness for it does not serve the purpose for which it was intended especially in a place like the vestibule, for the purpose of this room is to lead one to other rooms. In the same way the disciples are to spread the message of Christ which they have been hearing and listening and not keep it to themselves but rather take it to others.

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Travel

Bangkok – city of angels

Last week I took a five day break and went off to Bangkok with friends. I know what you’re thinking in fact I can see you rolling your eyes while a smirk forms at the corner of your lips. I don’t need magical powers to figure out your thoughts for Bangkok does have a reputation and a priest on holiday in that city sounds like a saint in a brothel. But then again perceptions are in one’s head and if you can look beyond what cities (or for that matter people) are portrayed to be you will see more than what you have come to believe to be true.

The Thais call this city Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and covers an area of 605.7 kms in the Chao Phraya River delta area in central Thailand. There are many theories about the origins of the name “Bangkok” which is pronounced as “Baang Gok”. To some the name evolves from “Bang (Suburb or district) Koh (Island)” . It is believed that there were many canals and creeks in Bangkok which essentially made Bangkok pretty much an island district often dubbed as the Venice of the East. Still others hold that ‘Bang Kok’ means ‘the village of plum/olive trees.’

Unfortunately the West has only known it as Bangkok and continues to believe that the city’s name must be mixed with a small fraction of the city’s sad but immoral lifestyle. This is no “sin city” unless you choose to walk that path. Interestingly, the Thai people rarely refer to their capital city as “Bangkok”.

Bangkok has been known by its western name since the last 300 years; going back to the old capital Ayuttaya (from Ayodhya) which was a trading dock at that time. When Ayuttaya was burnt to the ground, King Taksin moved the capital of Siam and established the new capital on the west side of Chao Phraya River and called it “Thonburi” ( 1768) .

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Faith

I beg your pardon; I never promised you a rose garden! Saturday, 24th week in ordinary time – Lk 8:4-15

Many of us read with utmost seriousness several self-help books. We become captive and are riveted to some ‘new thought’ we come across. This becomes our new mantra for a while or as I have come to believe the ‘flavour of the season’ for some. It becomes our social talking point and we seem to peddle the thoughts and work incessantly like as if the passing on of this ‘good news’ will save the world.

 All this passes away when some other ‘new ideology’ floats by. What most people fail to realise is that while these book may seem ‘new’ to us, they books have been simply reinventing the wheel. Perhaps what one often fails to see is that the greatest truths are espoused simply in the Bible; unfortunately what is seen as readily available is not always valued and what is not wrapped in tinsel and glossy paper is not valuable. We seem to know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

Deep within in us we know that we long for a wholesome relationship and that relationship can be found with God.  This longing is often obscured if not impeded by sin which makes us ashamed and often mistakenly leads us to believe that as a consequence God does not want to share a relationship with us.

There is no one in their right mind who actually seeks sin, most seek to do good and live in harmony with others. To do this we need to attach ourselves to God and not to a passing ‘flavour of the season’. Yet our human experience has proved to us beyond a doubt, how hard this struggle is because of sin and temptation. St Paul himself confesses to this struggle when he admits, “I want to do good yet I do evil,”

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