Ad Imaginem Dei: O Emmanuel! Savior of all people, come and set us free!

Friday, December 23, 2011

O Emmanuel! Savior of all people, come and set us free!

Hubert and Jan Van Eyck, Adoration of the Lamb, Central Panel of the Ghent Altarpiece

Netherlandish, 1425-1432

Ghent, Cathedral of St. Bavo

The seventh and final "O Antiphon", for December 23rd, reads "O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God". The title, Savior of all people, applies to Christ through his Passion and Death.

There are many works of art that show the Crucifixion, most often in a narrative sense. However, the text of this antiphon is more suggestive of contemplation and adoration of Christ as Crucified Savior. Three works of art come to mind as an interpretation of the subject.

The first is the Adoration of the Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, painted for the chapel of the Vidjt family in the Cathedral of St. Bavo in Ghent between 1425 and 1432. It represents a scene from the book of Revelation (Rev. 7:9-10). The blessed in heaven "from every nation, race, people, and tongue" adore the Lamb that was slain. The Lamb is, of course, Christ and His placement on the altar reminds us of the Sacrifice of the Mass, which is a daily participation in His Passion, Death and Resurrection. For more on this see my post Worthy Is the Lamb.

The second is the Landauer Altarpiece by Albrecht Durer, dated to 1511. It is an image of the Adoration of the Holy Trinity by all the saints. Here, the Crucified Christ is displayed by God the Father for the adoration of all, the ultimate revelation of the God of Mercy and Love. See also The Holy Trinity -- Love Made Visible and The Holy Trinity -- The Throne of Grace.

Albrecht Durer, Adoration of the Holy Trinity
German, 1511
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum

The final image is an engraving after a drawing by Gianlorenzo Bernini of the Blood of Christ. It was engraved as the frontispiece of the book Unica speranza del peccatore (The Only Hope of the Sinner) by F. Marchese, published in Rome in 1670. In this work, the Crucified Christ, on the cross, is held high by angels in adoring postures. His blood pours down, forming an endless ocean of grace for sinners to draw upon. For more on this see "Of the Blood, All Price Exceeding, Shed by Our Immortal King".

Gianlorenzo Bernini, Blood of Christ
Engraved by F. Spierre for frontispiece of Unica speranza del peccatore by F. Marchese,
Italian, 1670
Vatican, Vatican Library

These pictures remind us of the reason for which the anticipated Emmanuel came to us. As the carol "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" tells us, to make "God and sinners reconciled".

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Uniquely among the monotheistic religions Christianity permits the use of images of God. Why? The answer lies in the Christian belief in the reality of the Incarnation. Since God has assumed human nature and form the Biblical prohibition against making images of God ceases to apply. As the second Council of Nicea declared in 787 "Following the divinely inspired teaching of our holy Fathers and the tradition of the Catholic Church (for we know that this tradition comes from the Holy Spirit who dwells in her) we rightly define with full certainty and correctness that, like the figure of the precious and life-giving cross, venerable and holy images of our Lord and God and Savior, Jesus Christ, our inviolate Lady, the holy Mother of God, and the venerated angels, all the saints and the just, whether painted or made of mosaic or another suitable material, are to be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on sacred vessels and vestments, walls and panels, in houses and on streets."
(Council of Nicaea II: DS 600)

This decree of Nicea II was promulgated for the entire church, both Greek and Latin speaking, and was a response to the strongly held beliefs of the iconoclasts, who wished to suppress the use of images, which had convulsed the Byzantine Empire and the eastern churches for almost 100 years. In addition, St. John Damascene, last of the Greek Fathers and a staunch defender of images, had written in De imagine ("In Defense of Images") "Of old, God the incorporeal and uncircumscribed was never depicted. Now, however, when God is seen clothed in flesh, and conversing with men, (Bar. 3.38) I make an image of the God whom I see. I do not worship matter, I worship the God of matter, who became matter for my sake, and deigned to inhabit matter, who worked out my salvation through matter." (St. John Damascene, De Imagine, Part I, 15-16, from Internet Medieival Sourcebook.)

The ways in which this imaging of the divine has been accomplished in the course of time is the subject of Christian iconography. To quote from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, iconography is "1: pictorial material relating to or illustrating a subject; 2: the traditional or conventional images or symbols associated with a subject and especially a religious or legendary subject; 3: the imagery or symbolism of a work of art, an artist, or a body of art".

The iconography of any subject develops and changes over time. Christian iconography develops and changes too, as reflection on the Gospels and Tradition develops over time and as the act of making art develops and changes as well. This is the background for this blog.

Ad Imaginem Dei

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Friday, December 23, 2011

O Emmanuel! Savior of all people, come and set us free!

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Oscar Wild 1997(?)-2014