The Great Painters' Gospel Part 3

[Ill.u.s.tration: Shadow of Death.]

Plate 40. _Shadow of Death._ Holman Hunt. 1827-

_Plockhorst, Plate 41,_ depicts the parting of Mother and Son,-- another pang for the saintly Mary.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Christ taking leave of his Mother.]

Plate 41. _Christ taking leave of his Mother._ B. Plockhorst. 1825-

_Plate 42_ is Andrea del Sarto's famous the youthful John the Baptist, in the days before he came preaching in the of Judea. (Luke 1:80.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: John the Baptist.]

Plate 42. _John the Baptist._ Andrea del Sarto. 1488-1530.

_t.i.tian, Plate 43,_ shows John as he appeared a few years later upon the banks of Jordan, "his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins." (Matt. 3:1-4.) He seems to be saying, "Behold the Lamb of G.o.d, which taketh away the sin of the world."

(John 1:29.) The river is introduced as a symbol (Luke 3:16), and the lamb also (John 1:35). Del Sarto seems to have studied this figure before painting his boy John. Compare the two faces, and the two arms and hands. Notice the two crosses also.

[Ill.u.s.tration: John the Baptist Preaching.]

Plate 43. _John the Baptist Preaching._ t.i.tian. 1477-1576.

THE TEMPTATION.

_Scheffer, Plate 44,_ shows Jesus "upon an exceeding high mountain"

and Satan offering him the world for one act of worship. Jesus is about to say, "Worship G.o.d." (Matt. 4:8-10.) _Hofmann, Plate 45,_ has selected the next moment when Satan retreats and an angel comes to minister to the famished man. (Matt. 4:11.) The serpent is present because of Rev. 12:9.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Temptation of Christ.]

Plate 44. _Temptation of Christ._ Ary Scheffer. 1795-1858.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Temptation.]

Plate 45. _Temptation._ H. Hofmann. 1824-

THE BEGINNING OF PUBLIC SERVICE.

_Bida, Plate 46,_ ill.u.s.trates John 1:35. "Behold the Lamb of G.o.d,"

said John to two of his disciples, who straightway left John and followed Jesus. _Grunewald, Plate 48,_ represents Jesus meditating as he walks by the sea alone, possibly before he had chosen his disciples, but more likely after the people threatened to make him a King (John 6:15), for it is evening near the sea of Galilee.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Behold the Lamb of G.o.d.]

Plate 46. _Behold the Lamb of G.o.d._ Alexandre Bida. 1813-1895.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Jesus Walking by the Sea.]

Plate 48. _Jesus Walking by the Sea._ M. Grunewald (was painting 1518).

_Veronese, Plate 50,_ transforms the modest wedding at Cana into a gorgeous Venetian Feast, to which "Jesus also was bidden, and his disciples," "and the Mother of Jesus was there." (John 2:1-2.) They may all be discovered in the central part of the picture, but to the mind of Veronese the miracle of the wine seems to be of but secondary importance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Marriage Feast.]

Plate 50. _The Marriage Feast._ Paolo Veronese. 1528-1588.

EARLY JUDEAN MINISTRY.

_Kirchbuck, Plate 51,_ presents a general view of the event recorded in John 2:13-22. Jesus expels the desecrators by his presence merely, as he overthrew his enemies in Gethsemane. (John 18:6.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Christ casting out the Money-changers.]

Plate 51. _Christ casting out the Money-changers._ F. Kirchbuck.

_Hofmann, Plate 52,_ with his usual literalness, gives Jesus the whip of small cords, and represents him as actively aggressive. "The zeal of thine house shall eat me up," said the prophet, and as they watched Jesus the disciples remembered those words. (John 2:17.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Purification of the Temple.]

Plate 52. _Purification of the Temple._ H. Hofmann. 1824-

_Plate 53,_ by an unknown artist, is an attempt to portray the discourse with Nicodemus. The incident is related in John 2:23-3:21.

The moment is that when Jesus says, "If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?"

[Ill.u.s.tration: Nicodemus' Visit to Jesus.]

Plate 53. _Nicodemus' Visit to Jesus._ Artist unknown.

THE RETURN THROUGH SAMARIA.

"He came to a town called Shechem, near the plot of land that Jacob gave his son Joseph. Jacob's Spring was there, and Jesus, being tired after his journey, sat down, just as he was, close to it. It was then about mid-day. A woman of Samaria came to draw water; so Jesus asked her to give him some to drink, his disciples having gone into the town to buy provisions." [*]

[*] Twentieth Century New Testament

_Biliverti, Plate 56,_ gives the woman a companion not mentioned in the text. The moment is that of John 4:10, "If you knew the gift of G.o.d, and who it is that is asking you to give him some water, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Jesus and the Woman of Samaria.]

Plate 56. _Jesus and the Woman of Samaria._ Biliverti.

_Dore, Plate 54,_ has selected a later moment, "Trust me," Jesus replied, "a time is coming when it will not be on this mountain or in Jerusalem that you will worship G.o.d the Father."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Jesus and the Woman of Samaria.]

Plate 54. _Jesus and the Woman of Samaria._ Gustave Dore. 1833-1883.

_Hofmann, Plate 55,_ may have chosen to ill.u.s.trate the twenty-fourth verse, "G.o.d is Spirit; and those who worship him must worship spiritually, with true insight." (John 4:24.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Jesus and the Woman of Samaria.]

Plate 55. _Jesus and the Woman of Samaria._ H. Hofmann. 1824-

THE CALL OF THE FOUR.

Walking by the sea of Galilee one morning, Jesus saw two brethren, Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, ... and two other brethren, James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, with their nets, for they were fishermen. And he called them: "Come ye after me and I will make you fishers of men." These four became his first disciples. (Matt. 4:18-22.)

_Zimmermann, Plate 47,_ has seized upon the moment when Jesus makes that extraordinary statement. Peter and John are nearest Jesus, the other two in the background. "Fishers of men;" the phrase is mysterious; they cannot understand it. Nevertheless, they leave all and follow Him.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Christ and the Fishermen.]

Plate 47. _Christ and the Fishermen._ Zimmermann. 1832-

Luke gives the account of a miracle between the morning sermon of Jesus to the crowd upon the beach, and this call of the four fishermen: "When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, Push off into deep water, and then all throw out your nets for a haul." "We have been hard at work all night, sir," Simon answered, "and have not caught anything, but as you say so, I will throw the nets out." They did so, and they enclosed such a great shoal of fish that their nets began to break. So they signalled to their mates in the other boat to come and help them; which they did, filling both the boats so full of fish that they were almost sinking.

_Raphael, Plate 49,_ ill.u.s.trates the moment, a little later, when Peter threw himself down at Jesus' knees, exclaiming: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." (Luke 5:8.) Raphael made this as a design for a tapestry for the Sistine Chapel, Rome.