Art/ Heritage

Madonna dell’Orto (Venice) – Presentation at the temple of the Virgin (1552-1553) by Tintoretto

MARY – A MASTERPIECE: ‘The Presentation of the Virgin’ by Tintoretto (1552 – 1553)

His art is a poetry of colour, a theatre of design and a canvas of stories!

Born Jacopo Comin, Tintoretto (the little dyer) took his name from his father’s profession of dyeing also known as tintore in Italian. Noticing the paint daubs on the dyer’s wall, his father apprenticed him to the studio of the great Titian. However as fate would have it, Titian sent the young chap home in a week, apparently ‘jealous’ of his ground-breaking approach and his extra-ordinary skills.

These spectacular skills suffused most of his paintings. He imitated the bold muscular style of the Mannerist school of art while emulating the colour and light of the Venetian school. Enamoured by his own technique, he proudly placed before his studio a plaque that read, ‘Il disegno di Michelangelo et il colorito di Tiziano’ (The design of Michelangelo and the colour of Titian). However, his motto failed to please his contemporary critics. They were exasperated by his radical lack of finish and his blazing bravura brushstrokes. And yet it is this unique treatment that moved and influenced the best of Baroque painters, inaugurating a path to modern painting. His phenomenal energy earned him the title ‘Il Furioso’.

The secret to his genius was his vision. Tintoretto, a run-riot of the Renaissance, staged his narratives as a theatre director. He employed light and dark, foreshortening and perspective in order to transform religious scenes into enthralling performances. The spirit of Counter Reformation reverberated through his art works. One such beat is ‘The Presentation of the Virgin’. Executed in oil on canvas, the painting is housed at the Church of Madonna dell’Orto in Venice, Italy.

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Faith

Not just harping around- Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels

The word angel comes from the Greek, “aggelos,” and means “messenger”. Although the Catholic Church acknowledges that there are seven Archangels according to Sacred Scripture and sacred tradition the Council of Rome in 745, under the reign of Pope Saint Zachary, officially acknowledges the names of only three of the seven Archangels: St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael. This is because these three Archangels are the only angels named in Scripture.

The names of the other four Archangels appear in Jewish and Christian sources outside of the canon of Sacred Scripture (an example is the Book of Enoch chapter 20) and their names are: Uriel, Raguel, Zerachiel, and Remiel.

Since the fourth century, nine choirs or types of angels were identified in the Bible and popularized in the Middle Ages by various theologians and writers, like St. Thomas Aquinas, Dante, Hildegard of Bingen and John Scotus Erigena. Together, they form the “hosts of heaven,” i.e., God’s army of angels. Almighty God is called “Lord of Hosts” (in Hebrew, “Yahweh Sabaoth”) over three hundred times in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testament (Rom 9:29 and Jas 5:4).

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Faith

A heartfelt witness – Friday, 25th week in ordinary time – Lk 9:18-22

Please note that these reflections are best read only after you have read the Gospel text and kept besides you as a reference. The aim of these reflections is to teach and not merely preach.

Jesus’ Galilean ministry is drawing to a close and this section (9:7-50) will focus on the response of people to Jesus’ ministry. We have already encountered Herod who wants to ‘see’ Jesus but does not ‘seek’ Him.  For Herod Jesus is merely an object of curiosity.

The reading of today which falls in this larger section, took place a few days after the feeding of the five thousands for the text begins with the words, “once when Jesus was praying along with only the disciples near him.” In the Gospel of St Luke, the reference to Jesus at prayer is indicative that something theologically important is about to occur.

In asking the disciples who do people say he is Jesus wishes to elicit a response from those closest to him and to know what is in the mind of the Galileans. The response of the eleven concurs with the response given to Herod when he sought to inquire about Jesus (see9:7-9). Some thought Jesus was John the Baptist, others Elijah or still others one of the prophets who had arisen.

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Faith

Seek; don’t just see – Thursday, 25th week in ordinary time – Lk 9:7-9

In Luke 7:1-9:6 we saw how Jesus’ kingdom message is for men AND women and how it also shatters the boundaries of clean and unclean. The section opened with a the healing of the centurions slave and the raising of the widows son in Nain ( both were men) and ends with healing of a woman who had a bleeding and the raising of Jarius’ daughter ( both women)

We now enter a new section (9:7-50) which consists of the responses to Jesus as His Galilean ministry draws to an end. From 9: 51 Jesus will begin His journey to Jerusalem.  For now there is a sense a curiosity about Jesus from none other the Herod the tetrarch himself.

The passage just before this tells us that Jesus sent out the twelve to preach the kingdom of God giving them power and authority over demons, to cure diseases and to heal. We are told they went ‘everywhere’. In a flash, the ministry of Jesus has just exploded twelve times over, all throughout Galilee. They went out in Jesus’ name (not theirs) and became to the Galileans the equivalent of twelve ‘news channels’. The name of Jesus is now known with awe, wonder and respect, enough to get the rulers attention.

Herod Antipas was no friend of John the Baptist or Jesus in fact the Gospel of Luke presents him as being hostile to both. Herod was a self-serving egoistic man whose desire was no more than a titillation of the senses. On hearing of the works of Jesus, now made known even more thanks to the ministry of the twelve, he desires to “see” Jesus. Thrice, the Gospel of Luke will talk about Herod’s desire to “see” Jesus (Luke 23:8) but that is all Herod desired.

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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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