@thevcs.bsky.social
http://TheVCS.org is a free, online resource that provides material for teaching, preaching, researching, and reflecting on the Bible, Art, and Theology based @kcltrs.bsky.social
UNKNOWN RUSSIAN ARTIST You Are a Priest Forever (Ты еси иерей во век), c.1600, Egg tempera on wood, Ikonen-Museum, Recklinghausen; The Picture Art Collection / Alamy Stock Photo
This icon from early 17th-century Russia is of the rare and enigmatic ‘You Are a Priest Forever’ type, its name taken from #Hebrews 7:17.
Find out more about the third and final object in our exhibition of the week, 'After the Order of Melchizedek':
thevcs.org/after-order-...
Read more about this Netherlandish triptych in our exhibition of the week on Hebrews 7–8, 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘬:
thevcs.org/after-order-...
Click on the link to find out more:
thevcs.org/after-order-...
ALEXANDER PONEKHALSKY detail of 'Christ the True Vine', c.1753, Wall painting, Biserica de Nașterea Maicii Domnului (Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary), Călinești Căeni, Maramureș, Romania; Țetcu Mircea Rareș / Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0
From Christ's side wound grows a vine. He grabs a cluster of grapes, squeezing their juice into a chalice.
To his left, the inscription translates to ‘Jesus Christ, giver of life’. On the right, an angel holds a scroll stating ‘You have redeemed us from the curse of the law by your precious blood’.
ALEXANDER PONEKHALSKY Christ the True Vine, c.1753, Wall painting, Biserica de Nașterea Maicii Domnului (Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary), Călinești Căeni, Maramureș, Romania; Țetcu Mircea Rareș / Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0
Our exhibition of the week is called 'After the Order of Melchizedek' and looks at #Hebrews 7–8.
Alexander Ponekhalsky was born in present-day Ukraine and settled among the Romanians of Maramureș in the Carpathians, becoming one of the most renowned artists in the region.
Christ’s crucified body is enfolded by the wings of a white seraph—an iconography adapted from Western depictions of the stigmatization of Saint Francis (Kriza 2016: 116)—and flanked by two red seraphs. An Orthodox commentary known as On the Ancient of Days, which survives in a late sixteenth-century manuscript, states that the three seraphs here symbolize Christ’s soul (Kriza 2024: 259)—but they surely also evoke visionary descriptions from Scripture of the throne of God (Isaiah 6; Revelation 4). Christ is represented, symbolically, twice more in the icon: as a youthful, fiery red warrior-king holding a sword that destroys the works of the devil, and as ‘a priest’ standing in ‘the power of an indestructible life … holy, blameless, unstained, ... exalted above the heavens … a Son who has been made perfect for ever’ (Hebrews 7:16, 26, 28). The thrice-depicted Christ—priest, king, sacrifice—is enthroned inside a luminous rhombus backed by a red rectangle representing the heavens spread out like a curtain (Isaiah 40:22; Tradigo 2006: 231). In the four corners are the four living creatures of the Apocalypse, who sing ‘Holy, holy, holy’ (Revelation 4:6–8) to the sacrificial yet victorious Lamb who makes peace by his own blood. Commentary by Victoria Emily Jones
I hadn't come across this icon before (thanks @thevcs.bsky.social) but it's quite awesome and my new favourite.
thevcs.org/after-order-...
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I was delighted to be invited to contribute a commentary to @thevcs.bsky.social. Read it here: thevcs.org/peters-mothe...
#arthistory #history #exvotos #votives
Exhibition of the Week: Trial by Water (Numbers 5)
Our Exhibition of the Week is called 'Trial by Water' and is on #Numbers 5.
It features a painting by Richard McBee, an Ethiopian Manuscript, and a work by Andi Arnovitz.
Click here to read Maryanne Saunders' commentary:
thevcs.org/trial-water#...
ANDI ARNOVITZ The Dress of the Unfaithful Wife, 2009, Japanese paper, hair, dirt, film and threads, 110 x 46 x 13 cm, Private Collection; ©️ Andi Arnovitz; photo: Avshlom Avital
American-Israeli artist Andi Arnovitz created 'The Dress of the Unfaithful Wife' in 2009 from the key components of the Sotah ritual: hair, dirt, Hebrew letters, and paper.
Find out more in our exhibition on #Numbers 5, 'Trial by Water':
thevcs.org/trial-water#...
UNKNOWN ETHIOPIAN ARTIST, AMHARA REGION The Trial by Water, from an Illuminated Gospel (f.7r), Late 14th–early 15th century, Parchment (vellum), wood (acacia), tempera, ink, 41.9 x 28.6 x 10.2 cm (manuscript), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Rogers Fund, 1998, 1998.66, fol. 7r, www.metmuseum.org
An apocryphal tradition recounts Mary being given the ‘bitter waters’ of #Numbers 5 after her pregnancy becomes apparent.
A rare depiction can be found in this manuscript made by the Ethiopian Amhara peoples in the late 14th to early 15th centuries:
thevcs.org/trial-water#...
#CofEPeeps #narthex
RICHARD MCBEE Sotah Drinks, 2009, Oil on canvas, 50.8 x 50.8 cm; ©️ Richard McBee; Photo: courtesy Richard McBee
In this week's exhibition we consider the unusual Sotah ritual, or the ‘ordeal of the bitter water’, found in Numbers 5.
‘Sotah’ is the rabbinic term for a (suspected) disloyal wife.
The first work, 'Sotah Drinks', is a painting by Richard McBee:
thevcs.org/trial-water#...
#CofEPeeps #narthex
Luke 2:36–38 The Prophet Anna Commentaries by Anna Gannon
Anna Gannon writes about her namesake '... mediating past and present, and boldly and unequivocally recognizing and indicating Jesus as the transformative Redeemer.'
Our Exhibition of the Week is called 'The Prophet Anna':
thevcs.org/prophet-anna...
Is this Rembrandt's mom?
The painting's current label in the Rijksmuseum, 𝘖𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢, is rather more tentative.
Find out more in our exhibition on Luke 2:36–38, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢, by clicking on the link:
thevcs.org/prophet-anna...
Read about the third painting in our exhibition of the week on #Luke 2:36–38, 'The Prophet Anna':
thevcs.org/prophet-anna...
PAUL CÉZANNE An Old Woman with a Rosary, c.1895–96, Oil on canvas, 80.6 x 65.5 cm, The National Gallery, London; Bought, 1953, NG6195, ©️The National Gallery, London. All rights reserved
As she leans forward, she firmly clutches her #rosary beads, which she passes through her hands.
It conveys something of the depth of her spirituality, and life of prayer, which, just as for the Prophet Anna, would have sustained her at times of crisis and shaped her character.
PAUL CÉZANNE An Old Woman with a Rosary, c.1895–96, Oil on canvas, 80.6 x 65.5 cm, The National Gallery, London; Bought, 1953, NG6195, ©️The National Gallery, London. All rights reserved
The art critic and writer Joachim Gasquet tells us about the identity of the sitter: according to him, she was a former nun who had run away from her convent, and whom #Cézanne had engaged as a servant.
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AMBROGIO LORENZETTI detail of 'Presentation at the Temple', 1342, Tempera on panel, 257 x 168 cm, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence; 1890 n. 8346, Alfredo Dagli Orti / Art Resource, NY
In Ambrogio Lorenzetti's panel for Siena Cathedral, our protagonist #Anna stands tall, holding a scroll inscribed with her own prophecy recorded in #Luke 2:38, pointing to Jesus.
Read about it in our exhibition of the week, 'The Prophet Anna':
thevcs.org/prophet-anna...
Find out more in our exhibition on John 20:1–16, 'Mary Magdalene at the Tomb'.
thevcs.org/mary-magdale...
GIOVANNI GIROLAMO SAVOLDO Mary Magdalene, c.1535–40, Oil on canvas, 89.1 x 82.4 cm, The National Gallery, London; NG1031, © The National Gallery, London
Savoldo's has to be one of the most evocative depictions of #MaryMagdalene.
On her feast day, we share one of the four surviving versions of this lavishly dressed young woman out alone at night, holding the viewer’s gaze.
The subject came to be identified as ‘the Prophetess Anna’ and Rembrandt’s mother was suggested as the model. The current label, 'Old Woman Reading, Probably the Prophetess Anna', is rather more tentative.
Find out more in our exhibition on #Luke 2:36–38:
thevcs.org/prophet-anna...
REMBRANDT VAN RIJN Detail of 'Old Woman Reading, Probably the Prophetess Anna', 1631, Oil on panel, 60 x 48 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Purchased December 1928, SK-A-3066, Image courtesy of Open Access Rijksmuseum
The older woman in Rembrandt's painting is shown deeply absorbed in reading, concentrating her attention on a particular passage (illegible to the viewer). What she has found there seems to have inspired her: her lips are parted as if smiling.
21.07.2025 14:31 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Joshua 3–4 Crossing the Jordan Commentaries by Mark Scarlata
Our Exhibition of the Week on #Joshua 3–4 is called 'Crossing the Jordan' and features ancient standing stones, as well as paintings by @iamfujimura.bsky.social and Howard Finster.
Click here to read the comparative commentary by Mark Scarlata:
thevcs.org/crossing-jor...
#CofEPeeps #narthex
HOWARD FINSTER THE LORD WILL DELIVER HIS PEOPLE ACROSS JORDAN, 1976, Enamel on fibreboard, 76.4 x 75.1 cm, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1988.74.6, ©️ 2024 Howard Finster / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Finster was a #Baptist preacher and an untrained artist. After decades in the church, he felt a call to paint sacred art as a way to teach people the #gospel.
Read about THE LORD WILL DELIVER HIS PEOPLE ACROSS JORDAN in our exhibition on #Joshua 3–4:
thevcs.org/crossing-jor...
HOWARD FINSTER THE LORD WILL DELIVER HIS PEOPLE ACROSS JORDAN, 1976, Enamel on fibreboard, 76.4 x 75.1 cm, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1988.74.6, ©️ 2024 Howard Finster / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Finster creates a sense of flow towards the heavenly kingdom which dominates much of the painting.
The great white paths draw the eye upward. Each one is inscribed with characteristics of the promised land—KINDNESS, LOVE, PEACE, ETURNAL LIFE, HOME.
HOWARD FINSTER THE LORD WILL DELIVER HIS PEOPLE ACROSS JORDAN, 1976, Enamel on fibreboard, 76.4 x 75.1 cm, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.; Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1988.74.6, ©️ 2024 Howard Finster / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
In the middle of Howard Finster's painting, #Christ stands upon the waters with open, welcoming arms. Finster makes clear that it is the Lord who delivers his people.
This is written on the face of the waters along with the promise ‘I WANT HAFTO CROSS JORDAN ALONE’.
MAKOTO FUJIMURA Silence and Beauty—Mysterion, 2017, Mineral Pigments and Gesso on Canvas, 213.36 x 1005.84 cm, Collection of the artist; ©️ 2017 Makoto Fujimura
An impression of water, silence, and liminality is conveyed by @iamfujimura.bsky.social's work 'Silence and Beauty—Mysterion'.
The massive canvas is structured like a triptych and conveys a wall of emerald waters.
Read Mark Scarlata's commentary here:
thevcs.org/crossing-jor...
MAKOTO FUJIMURA detail of 'Silence and Beauty—Mysterion', 2017, Mineral Pigments and Gesso on Canvas, 213.36 x 1005.84 cm, Collection of the artist; ©️ 2017 Makoto Fujimura
The waters of the #Jordan are highly symbolic in the book of #Joshua. They represent the threshold that divides Israel’s past as an enslaved people and their future freedom in the land. The waters are a symbol of cleansing and purification.
16.07.2025 11:50 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
The Calanais Standing Stones remind Mark Scarlata of the twelve stones arranged by #Joshua as a memorial to the Lord at #Gilgal.
Find out more by clicking the link:
thevcs.org/crossing-jor...
UNKNOWN ARTISTS Calanais Standing Stones, central stone circle, 2900–600 BCE, Stone, 11m wide, Calanais, Isle of Lewis; funkyfood London - Paul Williams / Alamy Stock Photo
"And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal." (Joshua 3–4:20)
This week's exhibition is called 'Crossing the Jordan', and we first look at an extraordinary set of stones that were erected around 2900 BCE on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
