Prophetic painting

This picture was painted by Alan Storkey over a year ago and the background to it is described by Alan’s son Caleb on his blog. I love Caleb’s description of the way his dad would turn the tables on Sky spam callers. I doubt if Alan, like most of us, can believe the speed with which the whole empire has begun to come crashing down around the feet of this latter day Ozymandias and his clan.

I posted some reflections on the News International and phone hacking scandal a few days ago in a post entitled The Thunderer Whimpers.

With thanks to Caleb for permission to post the painting.

Inspection

I find this painting by John Granville Gregory fascinating and it is an interpretation of Caravaggio’s masterpiece on the resurrection appearance of Jesus to Thomas. Titled Still Doubting, the artist captures something of the spirit of our age. I first came across the work thanks to Maggi Dawn’s Writing on the Wall session in Chelmsford. In the picture Thomas reminds me of David Tennant as Dr Who and I began to speculate about the Time Lord forensically examining the wounds of the risen Christ. Maggi has reposted an interesting reflection on Thomas as we remember him today.

Consider

I first came across this picture Consider the Lillies by Stanley Spencer when Stephen Cottrell (now Bishop of Chelmsford) led a meditation on it as part of a Springboard day at the end of the 90s. It is one of a series of paintings by Spencer on the theme of Christ in the Wilderness. Spencer had planned to create forty paintings on the theme but in the end only finished eight, having sketched out twenty.

I have a print of the painting in my Bible and every now and then find myself considering Consider the Lillies (Matthew 6:28-29). This morning as I sat in the conservatory of our new Rectory for my prayers I looked at the painting and then began to look again through the windows at the garden surrounding the house. The garden has been carefully tended while the house was vacant, just one of many things we are so grateful to the church for, but then there is the gift of the glorious bird songs and the plants beginning to poke through in unplanned places. The grass is gradually being carpeted with daisies suggesting I need to cut the grass. I think I’ll wait, not just because there is so much else to do, but because it might just remind me to take time to get down on my hands and needs and wonder at the graciousness of God.

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lillies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these.

Table of Hope

At morning prayer today we spent a few moments reflecting on a painting of the Last Supper. HAPAG NG PAG-ASA (Table of Hope) was painted by Joey Velasco and depicts a group of street children in the Philippines in place of the disciples gathered around Jesus.




The artist explained that the original intention behind the painting was to remind his family to be grateful for the food they have. Having finished the painting Velasco went back to find out more about the lives of each of his subjects and the painting took on fresh meaning with each story. The girl on the far left clutching the bag, for example, lives in a graveyard.

In this haunting video Sa Kambas ng Lipunan (On the Canvas of Society) Velasco talks about the painting and the stories of the children behind it. It’s quite long but well worth watching if you have the time.



Joey Velasco died in July 2010 of kidney failure.

Simeon and Anna

This is probably my favourite picture from my trip to Jerusalem in 2008. It was taken at about 6:30am in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by the Edicule (the tomb of Christ) and is of a Coptic priest reading the scriptures by candlelight. When I saw the priest I immediately thought of Simeon faithfully waiting for the consolation of Israel in the Temple.

Today is Candlemas when we celebrate the presentation of Jesus in the Temple and remember the witness of the devout Simeon and the prophetess Anna (Luke 2:22-40).

When Simeon saw the Christ child he uttered the words known as the Nunc Dimittis. Anna responded by thanking God and talking about Jesus to those who were waiting for God’s deliverance. Two elderly, faithful servants of God, trusting him and waiting for his time and glimpsing the glory of God revealed in Jesus as they approached the end of their lives.

Candlemas is one of those pivotal Christian festivals when we look back to the birth of Christ and forward to his crucifixion. This painting by Bartolome Esteban Murillo is titled The Infant Christ Asleep on the Cross (1670s).

The shocking image depicts the Christ child asleep on the cross with a skull lying beside him. Both these symbols directly refer to his forthcoming sacrifice and are intended to emphasise the notion that Christ was born in order to die for the world.

Doug Chaplin has created his own images for Candlemas. Maggi Dawn and Tim Goodbody have also posted interesting reflections on the festival.

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word.

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.

Nunc Dimittis 1662 Book of Common Prayer

layer marney tower

Spent a pleasant bank holiday Monday lunchtime visiting Layer Marney Tower near Tiptree in Essex. It's Britain's tallest Tudor gatehouse and was built by Henry Marney in the 1520s. Marney was Lord Privy Seal to Henry VIII. You can climb to the top of the tower and there are fantastic views of the surrounding Essex countryside. Marney's aim was to surpass the splendour of Hampton Court in both size and grandeur, but having visited Hampton Court last summer I have to say he was well short of the mark. However, Layer Marney Tower is still an impressive building.

Marney also built a church which stands next to the gatehouse and on a wall inside the church is an original fresco of St. Christopher dating back to the 1520s. The painting was painted over during the reformation and discovered during restoration work in the 1870s.