Wish 9. Jesus Christ
This is the eighth New Year's wish come true - and proof of realness for my part. It is all explained in this post:
From all of me to all of you! Free wish for a drawing.
@obest, has asked for the most difficult of all the wishes: Jesus Christ.
Here is my version:
Nobody knows what Jesus looked like so up through the history of Christianity it has been custom to simply paint him as a man, most often with a beard. The cradle where Christianity was formed was not the middle east, but the Greeko-Roman culture and there was no image-taboo in this part of the world. On the contrary actually. The Romans were almost as hungry for images as we are and it is therefore not surprising that Jesus got to look like a bearded Greek philosopher, admired throughout the Roman world. But all we really know about Jesus is that he was male.
Christianity is one of the most strange and mystical of the great religions, the trinity being on top of the strangeness. A man, a pigeon, and a dessert deity melting together into a monotheist God. So I have painted Jesus as a human body, but in front of him I have placed a dove, and in front of that a circle of light, the light that is brought to being in the first lines of creation.
This painting has been something I had to really think about and something I am not sure I really like. The circle and the wings reminds me of the Persian Zoroastrian sign, and it somehow look alienating and spooky. Pagan even. On the other hand - I was never really convinced of the personal God, the friendly, loving advocate in the court of the angry desert God that once made a pact with the Jews. I guess I have when trying to think through the Christian dogmas focused more on the strange sacrifice of Jesus the human as if the advocacy was paid beforehand in the most gruesome way, as if Jesus had to annihilate himself into something not human to be part of the Trinity... Maybe my forefathers among the Danes actually understood more than we give them credit for when they depicted him as a conquering warrior King and sorcerer - I did actually consider painting him as they did. But maybe I will have another go at this strange motive?
Thank you @obest for a real challenge!
This is a great post and wonderful work. I wish I had found it earlier to Co tribute my little up vote.
I love your discussion on representation. I was doing a spot of reading on Odin and his ravens yesterday. One discussion I came across talked about early depictions of Jesus being portrayed with a dove on his shoulder. Believed to have been created to replace image of Odin, whose ravens would return to him each evening and report the day's events.
Thanks, a comment is as good as an upvote :)
The road to Christianity in Scandinavia was very much a political game, as opposed to the forceful religious battles that had shaped the religion almost 1000 years earlier. So the strictest dogma of the Abrahamic religions, that you can only have one God, was pretty much a victim of the old Scandinavian tradition of compromise.
GAH! The thumbnail looked like an Assyrian deity, similar to the statuette used in the Exorcist, "PAZUZU"! When I looked again, it seemed to me like a sun-god of ancient Egyptians, the Winged Sun Disk. Then I read "Jesus Christ" and the mindfuck was officially established. But only at first glance, because I believe that the deities of the major religions are just aspects of the same concepts that were troubling people in those times.
Yes, I admit that it is slightly confusing when you rethink the normal iconography of Jesus. It is actually rather interesting. I have chosen to hide his face as it could be any male face, and by doing so I have moved into the Jewish tradition of Ikonophobie and partly into the Muslim ditto. As I write, and others have noticed it looks rather pagan, but as Christianity (thank GOD) has no only had a few outbreaks of iconoclasm it is actually pretty legit :)
I really love your take on it @katharsisdrill and it is too how Jesus is made. It is fairly true for most prophets, demi Gods and Gods of course, as they have been revered and hated and thus made over many times for many centuries.
I call myself a 'cultural Christian' in that my ancestry was Christian based. However, Christianity, at least in USA, is pretty looked down on. Most people associate it with the 'crazy' versions that often pop up here and there and are always labeled as not being inclusive, however, I've been an Episcopaleon my entire life and everyone I've ever met in that faith has been very open to all, even having female vicars and openly gay children part of it all, but no one can fight media and if you don't have good PR you aren't ever going to be fairly represented. So the blurred head almost down-trodden pose of your Jesus is pretty telling of a dying religion.
I never really judge people from their beliefs. Some of the most unselfish and giving people i have meet was Christians, and here in Denmark the Christian traditions are rather liberal anyway. More interesting is it how hard it was for me to actually make a drawing of Jesus. When you decent from European heritage it just plays a big role no matter what you believe.
Maybe, you should give him a face, and put the pigeon and the light in his chest instead?....or maybe it will just look like a tired youth at a festival, taking a rest while his fan t-shirt is patying on.
I like it as it is, strange, and although there is some depth between the pigeon and the man, the light gives the feel of no depth. So the 3 are at the same place at the same time.
I also like his hesitation, he is sitting there waiting...a bit introvert?
But I,m disappointed!! at first I was fascinated by the tiny hands coming out of his Cathullean beard, but then I read your txt :-)
If nothing else it is a truly strange picture. I almost have the old Jewish fear of the idol, so that is the reason I did not show his face - could be any face anyway. It is also true about his position, he seems troubled, maybe a bit reluctant about being the God?
I am really glad that you grant my request of drawing Jesus Christ as a person, most persons have a different representation of Jesus Christ. I will say that your were creative and idealistic about the the true description of Jesus Christ . You added the symbol of the Trinity in one God to represent Jesus Christ I'm your drawing.
But we all agree that Jesus Christ took the form of a person when he came to this world to die for our sins, I agree with your notion that nobody truly knows the real face or appearance of Jesus Christ but to me Jesus Christ does not looks the way you assume him to be . I do appreciate your assumption though @katharsisdrill
Yes, Jesus was a human being, and he was God at the same time, that is the mystery I try to illustrate, but tradition all the way back from the 400-500 AC is that he is depicted as a human, often a suffering human. I think that I will try again to do some depictions of him. It is interesting for me to examine my own relationship to this.
It honestly reminds me of the Minotaur (Greek Mythology), but that's just me :)
Yes, the lack of the personal Jesus gives it a strange pagan feel.
At first glance I thought the wings were horns, and the tail of the dove was some sort of stone veil or mask... But reading through I realized I was wrong. Looks badass nonetheless.
Yep, it looks strange and remote, and slightly satanic ... Not much of this:
Yeah exactly that: strange and remote. But also gives me a feeling of power.
Not this guy...
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Hello @katharsisdrill, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!