One of the
best quotes I’ve heard in a long time is one from Professor Eamon Duffy this week, ‘Let’s
look for a fabulous crucifixion… Oh, that’ll do.’ I did comment on how ‘wonderful’
it was (in an ironic way) that he/we might be able to say such a thing. In reality,
the context in which the comment was made is important: it was within the
context of a Lecture to do with imagining [imaging] the crucifixion of Jesus.
During the
Lecture we were taken on a whistle-stop journey through almost two thousand
years of art (note, I don’t say Christian
Art). We learned that, whilst the cross may have been imagined, images of
the crucifixion (ie Jesus on the cross) did not appear for a good few hundred
years after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. (And yes, the apocryphal
story of the person in the shop who asked, “Well the thing is, do you want one those
crosses with the little man on it or not?”) We also learned that are were many
ways in which images (paintings, icons, statuary) through the ages have often included/reflected/‘absorbed’
secular/pagan imagery – somehow re-labelling that which could otherwise not be countenanced.
Through art-work designed to reflect the pathetic nature of the dead and dying Christ
which sought to evoke guilt in the onlooker, on to art that sought to provoke
sympathy and devotion for the suffering one, moving towards art that imaged Christ
as one who suffered in similar ways
to the onlooker (eg the Isenheim Altarpiece by Grunwald in which the Jesus who hangs on the cross suffers, in the
same way at which those who prayed before it suffered). Art that seeks to assist
the people of God in their devotions, as well explain to non-believers
something of the mystery and magnificence of what has taken place, has a hard
task to fulfil.
The way in
which the imaging of the cross has changed across the centuries and how the art
work used for devotion within communities found in different places and with different
theologies of the cross, was fascinating. Reflecting on any of these things
causes (hopefully) the individual to explore what they ‘see’, what they ‘understand’,
what ‘story’ of the cross they tell, and why. Many of the people present for
Professor Duffy’s Lecture found their eyes opened to new visions, simply by
having things explained. An item, the use of which had seemed unconscionable within
worship, suddenly began to be filled with new possibility as an aid to devotion
or, at least, and understanding to why it was created to assist devotion was developed.
One such item
was a jewelled cross (an example of which is given below). It is easy to understand why, when one has been brought
up within a non-Conformist tradition, the use of a be-jewelled cross might be something
'beyond the pail'. My church experience and practice is pretty broad, but even I wonder
what crosses that have little jewels hanging from them are all about. Rather like
understanding Professor Duffy’s comment about finding a ‘fabulous crucifixion’,
context is important. When you understand that the blood of Christ on the cross
is precious to believers, and that those who created these jewelled crosses
were seeking to reflect in ‘manufactured form’ the amazing truth of the
preciousness of the blood that flooded down the wood of the cross, then it is
possible for the jewels to be given meaning. No longer, for some, are these 'funny
little crosses with their dangly jewels' objects of derision (which, for many non-Christians,
the cross itself was/is), rather, meaning can be given to these crosses and the precious
metals and jewels that form and adorn them – meaning that understands them signs and symbols of
the precious form and blood of Jesus himself.
How wonderful
it was to be addressed by someone whose books I have read (The Stripping of the Altars being one such book, the reading aloud
of which reduced me to tears when someone sniggered at the fact I didn’t know
how to pronounce one of the phrases given in Latin). And how wonderful to be
with someone who was able to explore with us the journey that art, both Christian
and otherwise, had taken in terms of seeking to reflect eternal truths. It was
lovely to be able to listen to a man of faith sharing his understanding of what
he knew with us who were seeking understanding and knowledge too. It was a very
good way to start a Course on Preaching and Praying the Passion… more anon!
