Sunday, November 27, 2016

Stay Awake! The Admonition of Advent

Masseot Abaquesne, The Flood
French, c. 1550
Ecouen, Musée national de la Renaissance





Jesus said to his disciples:
“As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
In those days before the flood,
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day that Noah entered the ark.
They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.
So will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be out in the field;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill;
one will be taken, and one will be left.
Therefore, stay awake!
For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.”
Matthew 24:37-42

(Excerpt from the Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent, Year A)









The admonition in the Gospel for the First Sunday of Advent, Year A to “Stay Awake!  For you do not know on which day your Lord will come” brings with it the reminder that “as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man”, people went on with their lives, unaware of the catastrophe that was about to fall on them in the Flood.  And so it always is.  We have ample evidence in contemplating the disasters of the past and of the present.  There is abundant proof that the people of Pompeii and the other towns at the foot of Vesuvius went about their lives right up to their burial in layers of ash and mud.  The mega tsunami in Indonesia in 2004 caught people eating breakfast or relaxing in their hotel pools as it crashed into them.  The Japanese earthquake and tsunami that devastated Fukushima hit when no one was expecting it.  Similarly, the recent highly damaging earthquakes in Italy have come in the middle of the night.  And we have certainly seen in our own country the devastating effect of flood waters, with Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy and other weather events. 



Bonaventura Peeters, The Great Flood
Dutch, c. 1630-1650
Private Collection


If we have no way of really preparing for and protecting ourselves from natural disasters, there is little likelihood that we will be completely prepared for the day of the Lord.  I have always been mildly amused by the occasional warnings that the world will end on such and such a date.  In the verse just before the start of this Sunday’s Gospel passage, Jesus tells his disciples “But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matthew 24:36). If He himself does not know, how can anyone else, no matter by what means they claim the knowledge.  Consequently, it is a good idea to heed Jesus’ warning and “Stay awake” with prayer, good works, both physical and spiritual, and an expectant heart.  This is the message of Advent, not one of fear, but of hope and expectation.



Mosaic, The Flood
Italian, c. 1215-1235
Venice, Basilica of San Marco



Images of the Flood

Over the centuries artists have confronted this warning in several ways.  They have shown us images of the final resurrection and of the Last Judgment, but only a relative few have addressed the central image of this Sunday’s reading, the Great Flood and the time just before it, when the actions of humanity prompted such a violent reaction.  

In this essay I am talking about images of the Flood in itself, not about the story of Noah.  There are many, many images of the story of Noah, from the warning he received from God, to his struggle to build the ark.  And there are many, many images showing the animals entering the ark, the ark floating in the waters, the sending of the raven and the dove, the landing on Ararat, the exit of Noah, his family and the animals from the ark and the resettlement of the earth.  However, I am not referring to them directly here.  


 
Jacopo Torriti, Scenes from the Old Testament, The Building of the Ark
Italian, c.1290
Assisi, Basilica of San Francesco, Upper Church



There is a steady stream of images of the Flood itself through time, beginning in the thirteenth century and running through time.  The earliest images seem to show the effects of the flood at its height, as well as of Noah’s preparations.  We are shown the bodies of humans and animals floating amid the ruins of buildings, while a few who still survive are shown trying to swim. 



The Deluge
From De Civitate Dei by Saint Augustine
French (Paris), c. 1400-1425
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 174, fol. 83r



The Deluge
From De Civitate Dei by Saint Augustine
French (Paris), c. 1400-1425
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 173, fol. 70v




Master of Jouvenel des Ursins and collaborators, The Deluge
From Mare historiarum of John of Cologne
French (Anjou), c. 1447-1455
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 4915, fol. 25r




Maitre de l'echevinage and collaborators, The Deluge
From De Civitate Dei by St. Augustine
French (Rouen). c. 1450-1475
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 28, fol. 66v




Lucas Cranach the Elder and the Younger, The Flood
German, c. 1531-1539
Schneeberg, St. Wolfgang's Church



Trying to Escape

Around the middle of the fifteenth century these images are joined by others that focus on the attempts of the population to escape the rising waters.  These pictures are often highly dramatic, with the drama increasing markedly as time passed.




Paolo Uccello, The Flood
Italian, c. 1447-1448
Florence, Church of Santa Maria Novella. Green Cloister




Anonymous, The Flood
Possibly Italian, 1450-1500
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum




Circle of Marten van Cleve the Elder, The Flood
Flemish, 16th century
St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum




Michelangelo, The Flood
Italian, c. 1508-1509
Vatican City, Apostolic Palace, Sistine Chapel



Jan van Scorel, The Flood
Dutch, c. 1530
Madrid, Museo del Prado





The Flood
From The Story of Noah Tapestry Series
Flemish, c. 1550-1600
St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum



The Great Flood Tapestry
Flemish, Early 17th Century
St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum



Antonio Caracci, The Flood
Italian, c.1600
Paris, Musée du Louvre




Alessandro Turchi, The Flood
Italian, c.1630
Paris, Musée du Louvre




David Teniers II, The Deluge
Flemish, c.1655
Lawrence, KS, Spencer Museum of Art-The University of Kansas



Nicolas Poussin, Winter or the Flood
French, c. 1660-1664
Paris, Musée du Louvre


Many of these pictures, especially those from the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are dramatically posed.  




Louis Dorigny, The Flood
French, 1700-1703
Venice, Palazzo Tron



Mattia Bortoloni, The Flood
Italian, 1717-1718
Piombino Dese, Villa Cornaro




Jacopo Amigoni, The Flood
Italian, 1728
Ottobeuren, Benedictine Monastery Church


Jean-Baptiste Regnault, The Flood
French, c.1800
Paris, Musée du Louvre




Theodore Gericault, Scene of the Flood
French, c. 1800
Paris, Musée du Louvre




Phillip James de Louthebourg, The Deluge
French, c. 1800
London, Victoria and Albert Museum




Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Trioson, Scene of the Flood
French, c. 1806
Paris, Musée du Louvre



After the Flood

In addition, there are a few images of the aftermath, of the wreckage of dead bodies amid the devastation of the earth.   




Cornelis Coneliszoon van Haarlem, After the Flood
Dutch, c. 1588
St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum

Leon Francois Comerre, The Flood
French, c. 1900-1916
Nantes, Musée des Beaux-Arts



This is the image of the Flood that appears to have struck a chord among nineteenth-century American painters.




Joshua Shaw, The Deluge Towards Its Close
American, c. 1813
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art



Thomas Cole, The Subsiding of the Waters of the Deluge
American, 1829
Washington, DC, National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution


"They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark"

Also, in the mid-sixteenth century, we begin to see images of what was going on before the Flood.  We are looking at “In those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark.  They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away.” (Matthew 24:38-39). 


Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem, Sinners Before the Flood
Dutch, 1594
St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum





Cornelis Conneliszoon van Haarlem, Humanity Before the Flood
Dutch, 1615
Toulouse, Musée des Augustins




Frans Floris, Banquet of the Gods
Flemish, 1550
Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten




Pierre Reymond, The Wedding Feast of Cupid and Psyche
French (Limoges), 1558
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

\

Hendrick Goltzius after Bartolomeus Spranger, The Feast of the Gods at the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche
Dutch, 1587
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art



These continue into the middle of the seventeenth century and then seem to peter out. 

Cornelis Corneliszoon van Haarlem, Banquet of the Gods
Dutch, 1624
Private Collection




Ultimately, it is the images of the Flood itself, of its terror and of its sad aftermath that took center stage.  They serve as a reminder to us all, both for the everyday terrors of floods, fires and earthquakes and of that ultimate event for which we should maintain our vigilance over our own hearts.


© M. Duffy, 2016














































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