Book of Revelation – Art & Theology

Advent, Day 20: New Jerusalem

December 19, 2025 Victoria Emily JonesLeave a comment

And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

—Revelation 21:2

LOOK: Epiphany of the Other by Richard Kenton Webb

Webb, Richard Kenton_Epiphany of the Other — Richard Kenton Webb (British, 1959–), *Epiphany of the Other*, 2023. Oil pigment on plywood, 183 × 214 cm.

LISTEN: “How Long, Dear Savior” (NORTHFIELD) | Words by Isaac Watts, 1707 | Music by Jeremiah Ingalls, 1805 | Performed by the Boston Camerata, dir. Anne Azéma, 2020

How long, dear Savior, O how long
Shall this bright hour delay?
Fly swifter round, ye wheels of time,
And bring the promised day.

From the third heav’n where God resides,
That holy, happy place,
The new Jerusalem comes down
Adorned with shining grace.

An American Christmas is one of the Boston Camerata’s most popular programs. “It features a generous selection of carols, New England anthems, Southern folk hymns, and religious ballads for the season from the early years of the American republic, and from a wide range of early tune books and manuscripts”—including the shape-note hymn “How Long, Dear Savior” from The Christian Harmony (Exeter, New Hampshire, 1805), an arrangement of a stanza from Isaac Watts’s “Lo! what a glorious sight appears” to the fuguing tune NORTHFIELD. The Boston Camerata adds a stanza from the same Watts hymn.

The Grace Doherty Library at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, which owns a first edition of The Christian Harmony, provides biographical information about its compiler, Jeremiah Ingalls, to whom several of the tunes inside are attributed:

A native of Massachusetts who moved to Vermont around 1800, Jeremiah Ingalls (1764-1828) at various times worked as a farmer, cooper, and tavern keeper, in addition to serving as a choirmaster in the Congregational church, teaching singing school and composing music. Ingalls’ Christian Harmony contains many lively melodies, patterned after the secular songs and dances of the day. Such tunes were quite popular among the camp-meeting revival folk. In his hymn “Innocent Sounds,” Ingalls argues for the appropriateness of adopting these melodies for religious use.

The above performance of “How Long, Dear Savior” by the Boston Camerata was filmed at Boston’s historic Old North Church during the 2020 pandemic. To hear the song in a non-concert context, see this video taken at a Sacred Harp singing convention in Texas in 2011:

The “third heaven” refers to the dwelling place of God outside the universe. Beginning in the intertestamental period (ca. 420 BCE–ca. 30 CE), it was a common Jewish belief that God stacked the heavens in layers—as many as seven, but most typically three, sometimes delineated as: Earth’s atmosphere (the first heaven; i.e., the realm of the birds and clouds), interplanetary or interstellar space (the second heaven; i.e., the realm of the sun and stars), and God’s own abode, over and above what we can conceive (the third heaven). The term “third heaven” appears in Jewish apocalyptic and rabbinic texts such as the Testament of Levi 2, the Apocalypse of Moses 37:5, 2 Enoch 8:1, and 3 Baruch 4:7. The apostle Paul also uses it in 2 Corinthians 12:2–4 to describe one of his visionary experiences.

Advent, Day 11: He’ll Outshine the Sun

December 10, 2025 Victoria Emily JonesLeave a comment

His face was like the sun shining with full force.

—Revelation 1:16

[. . .] make ready for the Face that speaks like lightning,
Uttering the new name of your exultation
Deep in the vitals of your soul.
Make ready for the Christ, Whose smile, like lightning,
Sets free the song of everlasting glory
That now sleeps, in your paper flesh, like dynamite.

—Thomas Merton, from “The Victory” (1946)

LOOK: Portrait of Jesus by Hatigammana Uttarananda

Uttarananda, Hatigammana_Portrait of Jesus — Hatigammana Uttarananda (Sri Lankan, 1954–), *Portrait of Jesus*, 1996. Oil on canvas, 72 × 61 cm. © missio Aachen.

Hatigammana Uttarananda is a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk, artist, and scholar. His friendship with Fr. Aloysius Pieris, SJ—a Jesuit priest, liberation theologian, and founding director of the Tulana Research Centre for Encounter and Dialogue in Kelaniya—led him to study the Christian Gospels and to portray some of its stories in his paintings.

In his semiabstract Portrait of Jesus, Christ’s face gives off a deep radiance. He is both enlightened and enlightening.

“Bikku Uttarananda portrays Jesus with lowered eyelids, the enlightened one who has found the true meaning of life and is united in compassion with the suffering of all beings,” writes the Christian theologian Wesley Ariarajah in Christ for All People: Celebrating a World of Christian Art. “The rays of the light of life burst through his forehead; the colours are those of the saffron robes of the Buddhist monk and the fire of self-giving.”

LISTEN: “When Jesus Comes,” African American spiritual | Arranged by Alice Parker, 1988, and performed by The Musicians of Melodious Accord on Listen, Lord: A Cantata, Two Suites, and Eight Spirituals, 2010

When Jesus comes, he’ll outshine the sun
Outshine the sun
Outshine the sun
When Jesus comes, he’ll outshine the sun
Look away beyond the moon

When Jesus comes, we’ll sing Hosiana! . . .

When Jesus comes, we’ll shout Hallelujah! . . .

If you want to see King Jesus, keep prayin’ on . . .

Alice Parker (1925–2023) was an American composer, arranger, conductor, and teacher whose arrangements of hymns, spirituals, and folk songs of American, French, Spanish, Hebrew, and Ladino origin have become part of the repertoire of choirs around the world. In addition to arrangements, she also wrote original works, including operas, song cycles, cantatas, choral suites, and hymns. In 1985 she founded the professional choir Melodious Accord, with whom she released fourteen albums.

For the African American spiritual “When Jesus Comes,” she cites her source as The Negro Sings a New Heaven, a collection compiled by Mary Allen Grissom (University of North Carolina Press, 1930).

Advent, Day 10: Coming on the Clouds

December 9, 2025December 9, 2025 Victoria Emily Jones3 Comments

As I watched in the night visions,

I saw one like a son of man
coming with the clouds of heaven.
And he came to the Ancient One
and was presented before him.

—Daniel 7:13

“Immediately after the suffering of those days

the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from heaven,
and the powers of heaven will be shaken.

“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

—Matthew 24:29–31

“. . . you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of Power
and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

—Matthew 26:64

Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him,
and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.

So it is to be. Amen.

—Revelation 1:7 (cf. Zech. 12:10)

LOOK: Apse mosaic, Basilica of Saints Cosmas and Damian, Rome

*The Second Coming of Christ*, ca. 526–30. Mosaic, Basilica of Santi Cosma e Damiano (Saints Cosmas and Damian), Rome. All photos by Victoria Emily Jones.

This Roman-Byzantine mosaic decorates the apse (large semicircular recess at the east end of a church) of a basilica in Rome dedicated to the Christian martyr-saints Cosmas and Damian, twin brothers from third-century Arabia. Cosmas and Damian (Cosma and Damiano in Italian) were physicians who, out of love for Christ and humanity, treated their patients free of charge. They were killed in the Diocletian persecution, one of the Roman Empire’s attempts to squelch Christianity.

Situated behind the altar—and partially obscured by a hideous Baroque altarpiece with putti that was added in the seventeenth century—the mosaic depicts the parousia, the second coming of Christ. Christ is bearded and notably dark-skinned, and he wears a golden toga edged with purple. In his left hand he holds a rolled-up scroll, and his right hand he raises to indicate a phoenix in a palm tree—a mythological bird that rose from its own ashes, a potent symbol of resurrection that was adopted by the early Christians.

Descending from the heavens on dramatically colored clouds, Christ is portrayed as a triumphant ruler worthy of worship.

He is flanked by Peter and Paul, who present Cosmas and Damian. The figures on the extreme left and right are Pope Felix IV (r. 526–30), who paid to convert a pagan temple into the present church and to have it decorated with mosaics, and Theodore, another martyr under Diocletian. Cosmas, Damian, and Theodore lay down the crowns of their martyrdom before Christ, and Felix does the same with a model of the church he built.

The inscription at the base of the mosaic tells us that “Felix has offered this gift worthy of the lord bishop so that he may live in the highest vault of the airy heavens.” (If you balk at that, I do too; that you can buy your way to heaven, that you can earn favor with God or remit your punishment for sin through expensive gifts, is a false belief that still persists today in some corners of popular culture and even the church. I’m grateful for wealthy donors to the church throughout history, whose funds have enabled, among other things, the creation of beautiful art—but I must reckon with the fact that sometimes their motives were misguided and self-serving.)

Below the primary scene is a band of twelve sheep, which represent the apostles, or the Christian flock more generally. They process toward the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God), who stands on a rock from which flow the four rivers of paradise.

Based on further imagery from the book of Revelation, the arch that frames the apse depicts the Lamb seated upon the throne, a scroll with seven seals laid before him. He is flanked by seven lampstands, angels, and (not pictured) symbols of the Four Evangelists.

LISTEN: “God Is Coming on the Clouds” by Brother John Sellers, on Baptist Shouts! and Gospel Songs (1959)

Refrain:
God is coming on the clouds
Yes, he said
God is coming on the clouds
Yes, he said
May be morning, noon, or night
Better get all your business right
God is coming on the clouds
Yes, he said

When the clouds turn dark as night
And there ain’t no light in sight
When the world begins to tremble
Won’t that be an awful night
You better get in a hurry
My Lord is coming soon
Oh, he’s coming on the clouds
Yes, he said [Refrain]

Oh Lord, please give me power
Stay with me every hour
I just been waiting here praying
For your Holy Ghost power
God, you been my friend
I know you freed me from sin
Yeah, you coming on the clouds
Yes, he said [Refrain]

Advent, Day 4: Healing of Nations

December 3, 2025 Victoria Emily Jones2 Comments

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

—Revelation 22:1–2

LOOK: Tree of Life by Kateryna Shadrina

Shadrina, Kateryna_Tree of Life — Kateryna Shadrina (Ukrainian, 1995–), *Tree of Life*, 2022. Acrylic on gessoed wood, 60 × 60 cm.

LISTEN: “For the Healing of the Nations” | Words by Fred Kaan, 1965, © Hope Publishing Company | Music by Henry Purcell, 1680, arr. Hartmut Bietz | Performed by the Consolatio Choir Universitas Sumatera Utara, 2020

For the healing of the nations,
God, we pray with one accord;
for a just and equal sharing
of the things that earth affords;
to a life of love in action
help us rise and pledge our word.

Lead us forward into freedom;
from despair your world release,
that, redeemed from war and hatred,
all may come and go in peace.
Show us how through care and goodness
fear will die and hope increase.

All that kills abundant living,
let it from the earth be banned;
pride of status, race, or schooling,
dogmas that obscure your plan.
In our common quest for justice
may we hallow life’s brief span.

You, Creator God, have written
your great name on humankind;
for our growing in your likeness
bring the life of Christ to mind,
that by our response and service
earth its destiny may find.

Easter, Day 7: The Lamb Has Overcome

April 26, 2025April 25, 2025 Victoria Emily JonesLeave a comment

LOOK: Adoration of the Lamb from Filotheou Monastery

Adoration of the Lamb (Athon fresco) — *Adoration of the Lamb*, 1765. Fresco in the exonarthex of the katholikon of Filotheou Monastery, Mount Athos, Greece.

LISTEN: “The Lamb Has Overcome” by Luke Morton, 2011 | Performed by Red River Hymnal, feat. Matt McCloskey, 2014

The Lamb has overcome
The Lamb has overcome
The battle’s done
And the victory is won
For the Lamb has overcome

No grave could hold him down
No grave could hold him down
Up from the ground
“He is risen!” was the sound
No grave could hold him down

At God’s right hand is he
At God’s right hand is he
Our Perfect Plea
As he lives to intercede
At God’s right hand is he

Refrain:
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Glory be unto his name
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
Glory be unto his name

The table now is spread
The table now is spread
This wine and bread
Broken body and blood shed
The table now is spread

The day is drawing near
The day is drawing near
He shall appear
And will wipe away each tear
The day is drawing near [Refrain]

The Lamb has overcome
The Lamb has overcome
The battle’s done
And the victory is won
For the Lamb has overcome

Roundup: Adoration ’N Prayze, “Elogio all’Innocenza,” and more

December 10, 2024December 10, 2024 Victoria Emily Jones2 Comments

DANCE: “I Wanna Be Ready”: The African American spiritual “I Wanna Be Ready” forms the soundtrack to this iconic solo from Alvin Ailey’s contemporary ballet Revelations. The dancer in this first video is Amos Machanic:

In 2018, in honor of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s sixtieth anniversary, Matthew Rushing, who is currently the company’s interim artistic director, traveled to Ailey’s birthplace of Rogers, Texas, to dance “I Wanna Be Ready” at Mount Olive Baptist Church, one of the few landmarks of Ailey’s childhood that’s still standing in Rogers. He was accompanied live by five local singers. The performance was filmed, edited, and released on YouTube.

I’m so excited that in January, for the first time, I’m going to see AILEY live in New York! The company will be performing three pieces, including the brand-new Sacred Songs, choreographed by Rushing.

+++

SONGS:

>> “Time Is Running Out” by Adoration ’N Prayze: Adoration ’N Prayze was a female gospel quartet from Detroit that was active in the early nineties, consisting of Damita Bass, Marguerita Bass, Pamela Taylor, and Shontae Graham (later replaced by Audra “Dodi” Alexander). This original song is the title track of their first and only album, released in 1991. The live recording is from a concert they gave at Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis in 1992.

>> “Oil in My Vessel,” traditional gospel song performed by Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem: Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem are a New England–based folk quartet made up of Rani Arbo (fiddle, guitar), Andrew Kinsey (bass, banjo, ukulele), Anand Nayak (electric and acoustic guitars), and Scott Kessel (percussion). This song they perform is based on a recording by Joe Thompson (1918–2012), who was raised in a Holiness Church in Alamance County, North Carolina. Thompson said the song was in his church hymnal, and that he learned it from his mom when he was about five years old (in the 1920s). Its refrain is a statement of intent to “be ready when the Bridegroom comes,” and its stanzas are taken from the seventeenth-century hymn “Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone?” by Thomas Shepherd and, from the eighteenth century, “Amazing Grace” by John Newton.

+++

PHOTOGRAPH SERIES: Elogio all’Innocenza (In Praise of Innocence) by Gloria Mancini: Gloria Mancini is an Italian artist working mainly in photography. One of her recent series, divided into three parts, is based on Revelation 3:1–6 (Gli Innocenti, or The Innocents), 12:1 (La Donna Vestita di Sole, or The Woman Clothed with the Sun), and 5:1–7 (L’Agnello, or The Lamb). “Becoming small to become great has been the aim of my exploration of the Book of Revelation,” she writes in her artist’s statement. “Inspired by the visionary and magnetic power of the Kyrios (the Christ, the Lamb), I chose to focus my reflection on innocence as a fundamental and revolutionary value of being, reaffirming its virtue.” She says she is compelled by how in Revelation, it is a meek and vulnerable lamb who defeats evil.

Jesus’s message to the church in Sardis, a wealthy city in west-central Asia Minor, is so seldom (or not at all?) visualized in art history—I’m grateful to Mancini for drawing attention to this passage through her thoughtful work! Jesus tells the church to “wake up,” to “remember . . . what you received and heard; obey it and repent,” following the example of the few there “who have not soiled their clothes.” Those people, he says, “will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.” He admonishes the Sardis Christians to be watchful and to strengthen and perfect their good works so that they might conquer evil and their names be preserved in the book of life.

Mancini pictures the faithful remnant at Sardis praying, keeping watch, persevering in purity, and gamboling about in the life of the Spirit.

Mancini, Gloria_In Praise of Innocence — Gloria Mancini (Italian, 1992–), photograph from the *Elogio all’Innocenza* series, 2023

The Woman Clothed with the Sun from Revelation 12, on the other hand, is widely represented in art, and since the twelfth century has been associated with the Virgin Mary, because the woman gives birth to a son who is pursued by the Dragon. In church tradition Mary is also likened to the burning bush in Exodus, because she bore the fire of divinity—God in Christ—within her but was not consumed. Mancini plays on both associations, showing Mary cautiously holding a flame, bringing it closer to her breast: she accepts the Incarnation and is set alight.

+++

ART SPOTLIGHT: “Yellow Silence: Miniature from the Silos Apocalypse (ca. 1100),” Public Domain Review: One of the most dramatic pauses in scripture comes about a third of the way through the book of Revelation. John has just described the nations’ loud and jubilant praises around the throne of God, and then he opens the next chapter, “When the Lamb broke the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (Rev. 8:1). This is the calm before the next storm of judgment breaks with the blowing of the seven trumpets, through which God purges the earth of evil.

While artists have historically relished the chance to visualize the rain of blood, fire, locusts, and such initiated by the trumpet blasts, the anonymous artist of a twelfth-century copy of an Apocalypse commentary from Spain saw fit to also visualize the sonic absence that preceded these spectacular occurrences. He did so with a rectangular swath of yellow.

Silence in Heaven (Silos Apocalypse) (detail) — Miniature from the Silos Apocalypse, northern Spain, 1091–1109. British Library, Add MS 11695, fol. 125v.

This swath calls readers to somber, speechless awe and reflection. God’s earlier word spoken to and through the prophet Zephaniah is appropriate here: “Be silent before the Sovereign LORD, for the day of the LORD is near” (Zeph. 1:7).

Click here to browse more images from the Silos Apocalypse.

Medieval roundup: Julian of Norwich, stained glass at York Minster, Jewish hymn from Andalusia, and more

October 29, 2024 Victoria Emily Jones2 Comments

PODCAST EPISODES:

>> “Jack’s Bookshelf: Julian of Norwich” with Dr. Grace Hamman, Pints with Jack: The “Jack’s Bookshelf” podcast series explores the authors and books that influenced the life and writings of C. S. Lewis. Hosted by David Bates, this episode covers Julian of Norwich (ca. 1343–after 1416), an English anchorite and mystic who authored what editors call Revelations of Divine Love or The Showings, the first English-language book by a woman. The most famous quote from this work is “Sin is behoovely, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” Medieval scholar Grace Hamman [previously] unpacks the quote and discusses other key passages and themes from Julian, as well as what little we know of her biography. An excellent introduction!

>> “Ben Myers—The Divine Comedy,” Life with God: One of the many gifts my parents have given me over the years was a four-month study-abroad stay in Florence during my junior year of college, where one of my courses was devoted to reading and studying—in its original Italian and in the author Dante Alighieri’s hometown!—the masterful trilogy of narrative poems known as La Divina Commedia, or The Divine Comedy in English. Moving through hell, purgatory, and heaven, it is an allegory of the soul’s journey toward God. I enjoyed hearing Dr. Benjamin Myers [previously], director of the Great Books Honors Program at Oklahoma Baptist University, discuss this deeply influential work from the early fourteenth century, and sharing one of his own poems, “Listening to Reggae at the Nashville Airport.”

+++

VIRTUAL TOURS OF CATHEDRALS:

Cathedrals are, among other things, repositories of sacred art. I’m so appreciative of digitization initiatives that seek to make some of those treasures available to global publics online. Here are two admirable examples.

>> The York Minster Stained Glass Navigator: York Minster in northeastern England has the largest collection of medieval stained glass in the UK, with the earliest pieces dating from the late twelfth century. On behalf of the Chapter of York, the York Glaziers Trust is undertaking to photograph it all. These photos are available for viewing online through the cathedral’s “Stained Glass Navigator,” which enables you to hover over panels to identify the scenes, zoom in for higher resolution, and see where each panel in situated in the context of the window’s larger narrative.

I especially recommend exploring the extraordinary Great East Window, which depicts the beginning and the end of all things. The top section opens with the seven days of creation, followed by other select scenes from the Old Testament, but the bulk of the window—and my favorite sequence—consists of scenes from the book of Revelation. The bottom row depicts historical and legendary figures associated with the history of York Minster.

St. John takes the book from the angel (York) — John Thornton of Coventry (British, fl. 1405–1433), *St. John Takes the Book from the Angel* (Rev. 10:8–11), 1405–8. Stained glass panel from the Great East Window, York Minster, York, England. Photo courtesy of the York Glaziers Trust.

The Dragon gives power to the beast (York) — John Thornton of Coventry (British, fl. 1405–1433), *The Dragon Gives Power to the Beast* (Rev. 13:1–3), 1405–8. Stained glass panel from the Great East Window, York Minster, York, England. Photo courtesy of the York Glaziers Trust.

Satan chained in the bottomless pit (York) — John Thornton of Coventry (British, fl. 1405–1433), *Satan Chained in the Bottomless Pit* (Rev. 20:1–3), 1405–8. Stained glass panel from the Great East Window, York Minster, York, England. Photo courtesy of the York Glaziers Trust.

>> Life of a Cathedral: Notre-Dame of Amiens: Located in the heart of Picardy in northern France, Amiens Cathedral is one of the largest Gothic churches of the thirteenth century, renowned for the beauty of its three-tier interior elevation, its prodigious sculpted decoration, and its stained glass. This website put together by Columbia University’s Media Center for Art History offers a detailed virtual tour of the cathedral, drawing attention to its architectural features and artworks, from the many stone relief sculptures over its four portals (my favorite) to the octagonal labyrinth that adorns the marble floor in the nave to the early sixteenth-century misericords in the choir stall.

Voussoir close-up, Amiens Cathedral — Detail of voussoirs from the south transept portal of St. Honoré at Amiens Cathedral, ca. 1240, featuring Adam working the ground, Noah building the ark, Jonah being disgorged from the fish, Hosea marrying Gomer, and other biblical figures and vignettes

+++

SONG: “Adon Olam,” performed by the Maqamat Masters, feat. Nissim Lugas: The well-loved text of this traditional Hebrew prayer in five stanzas probably originated in medieval Spain, having been first found in a thirteenth-century siddur (Jewish prayer book) from Andalusia. Drawn from the language of the Psalms, it praises God for both his transcendence and his immanence. He is incomparably great, the ruler over all, and yet he’s also a personal God, a refuge for those who call on him. The prayer’s title and opening phrase translates to “Master of the Universe” or “Eternal Lord.”

Various tunes have been used for the singing of this prayer over the centuries. The Maqamat Masters perform it here with a melody based on the traditional Armenian folk tune NUBAR NUBAR, arranged by Elad Levi and Ariel Berli. They also add to the prayer a few lines from the ghazals of the Persian Sufi poet Saadi (1210–ca. 1292), about the burning fire of God’s love; Lugas sings this Farsi passage from 3:06 to 4:08.

“Maqamat Masters is a unique group of musicians that coalesced around their work together teaching at the Maqamat School of Eastern Music in Safed, Israel,” 12 Tribes Music writes. “Each of the musicians is a master in a different traditional musical genre from the Middle East, and they bring their personal voices and decades of explorations together, to create a magical, new and innovative sound.”

+++

VIRTUAL EXHIBITION: The Faras Gallery: Treasures from the Flooded Desert: In 1960, Faras, a small town in Sudan near the Egyptian border, was one of the archaeological sites designated for flooding by the waters of the Nile to create Lake Nasser. Responding to an international call by UNESCO to preserve the area’s cultural heritage before it would be buried beneath the new reservoir, a Polish team led by Professor Kazimierz Michałowski proceeded with salvage excavations in 1961–64. Their efforts uncovered the wonderfully preserved ruins of a medieval cathedral, active from the eighth to fourteenth centuries (it was built on the remains of an early seventh-century church) and containing over 150 religious paintings, a trove of Nubian Christian art. By agreement with Sudan, half of the findings went to Poland’s National Museum in Warsaw, while the other half are kept in Sudan’s National Museum in Khartoum.

Nubian Madonna and Child — Wall Painting with Bishop Marianos under the protection of Christ and the Mother of God, early 11th century, excavated from Faras Cathedral in modern-day Sudan. Secco tempera on plaster, 247 × 155.5 cm. National Museum, Warsaw.

Curated by Paweł Dąbrowski and Magdalena Majchrzak and hosted by Google Arts & Culture, this virtual exhibition spotlights the wall paintings and artifacts from Faras that are housed in Warsaw. It discusses the importance of the discovery of the cathedral and the technical challenges of detaching the paintings (tempera on dry mud plaster) from the walls. It also includes digital reconstructions of the cathedral’s interior and exterior in 3D stereoscopy, as well as video elements. Here is one of the four videos from the exhibition:

Easter, Day 5: Glory to the Risen Lamb!

April 4, 2024April 4, 2024 Victoria Emily JonesLeave a comment

Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals, and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. They sing a new song:

You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to break its seals,
for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God
    saints from every tribe and language and people and nation;
you have made them a kingdom and priests serving our God,
    and they will reign on earth.

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice,

Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them, singing,

To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might
forever and ever!

And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

—Revelation 5 (NRSV)

LOOK: The Vision of the Lamb in the Midst of the Four Living Creatures, from a medieval English apocalypse

Lamb Upon the Throne (Getty) — *The Vision of the Lamb in the Midst of the Four Living Creatures and the Twenty-Four Elders*, made in London, ca. 1255–60. Tempera, gold leaf, colored washes, and pen and ink on parchment, 12 9/16 × 8 7/8 in. (31.9 × 22.5 cm). J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. Ludwig III 1 (83.MC.72), fol. 5.

LISTEN: “Glory to the Risen Lamb!” | Words compiled by Jean Anne Shafferman, 2007, from traditional sources (William Saunders and Hugh Bourne, 1821; Job Hupton, 1805; F. R. Warren, 1878) | Tune: INVITATION (New), from William Walker’s Southern Harmony, 1854 | Performed by musicians at Byford Parish Church, Georgetown, Massachusetts, 2020

Hear the gospel news resounding: “Christ has suffered on the tree;
streams of mercy are abounding; grace for all is rich and free.”

Refrain:
Hallelujah, hallelujah! Glory to the Risen Lamb!
Hallelujah, hallelujah! Glory to the great I AM!

Grace is flowing like a river from the Savior’s wounded side.
Still it flows as fresh as ever; all may live, for Christ has died. [Refrain]

On the cross for our redemption, see him all his lifeblood pour!
There he wins our full salvation, dies that we may die no more. [Refrain]

Advent, Day 19: Behold

December 21, 2023 Victoria Emily Jones1 Comment

“They will hunger no more and thirst no more;
    the sun will not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat,
for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

—Revelation 7:16–17

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

“See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

—Revelation 22:1–7

LOOK: The Supper of the Lamb by Wayne Forte

Forte, Wayne_The Supper of the Lamb — Wayne Forte (Filipino American, 1950–), *The Supper of the Lamb*, 2004. Oil on canvas, 60 × 48 in.

In this eschatological painting by Wayne Forte, the slain and risen Lamb reopens Eden, welcoming us all to the feast. He holds a palm branch, symbol of the martyr’s victory, and stands atop a table set with bread, wine, and the fruits of the tree of life. A river issues forth, further underscoring that this is a place of refreshment.

In the foreground, the iron grillwork of the gate depicts key events from salvation history: the Fall and Expulsion, Noah’s Ark, the Sacrifice of Isaac, the Exodus, the Nativity, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. Originating in the early Christian era, the IHS monogram at the top denotes the first three letters of the Greek name of Jesus, ΙΗΣΟΥΣ: iota, eta, sigma. Later it came to be mistakenly (but appropriately!) interpreted as an acronym for the Latin Jesus Hominum Salvator, “Jesus, Savior of Humanity.”

LISTEN: “Behold, Behold” by Caroline Cobb, performed with Sean Carter on A Home and a Hunger: Songs of Kingdom Hope (2017)

I see a city coming down
Like a bride in whitest gown
Purely dressed
I see the pilgrims coming home
All creation finds shalom
The promised rest
The Lamb of God will be her light
The sun will have no need to shine

Refrain:
Behold, behold
God makes his home with us
He’ll take his throne, forever glorious
Behold, behold
God makes his home with us
He’ll take his throne, forever glorious
The curse will be undone
O come, Lord Jesus, come

The Lord will banish every sin
All that’s broken he will mend
And make new
And we will see him face to face
As he wipes our tears away
And death is through
And all the ransomed and redeemed
From every tongue and tribe will sing

[Refrain]

At last the darkness will surrender to the light
But we, unveiled in glory, will forever shine
At last the powers of hell will drown in lakes of fire
But we will freely drink the crystal streams of life

Come, thirsty, taste and see
Come, hungry, to the feast
Come, weary, find your peace
The Bride and Spirit sing
Come!
Come!

[Refrain]

Based on Revelation 21–22, “Behold, Behold” is the last song on Caroline Cobb’s album A Home and a Hunger, which traces kingdom hope from Genesis to Revelation, each song focusing on a different biblical book.

This post is part of a daily Advent series from December 2 to 24, 2023 (with Christmas to follow through January 6, 2024). View all the posts here, and the accompanying Spotify playlist here.

Christ as Sun, Bridegroom, and Runner: Psalm 19, Revelation 12, and Advent

December 20, 2023March 19, 2025 Victoria Emily Jones2 Comments

“Glory Glory / Psalm 19” by Daniel Berrigan

The heavens bespeak the glory of God.
The firmament ablaze, a text of his works.
Dawn whispers to sunset.
Dark to dark the word passes: glory glory.

All in a great silence,
no tongue’s clamor—
yet the web of the world trembles
conscious, as of great winds passing.

The bridegroom’s tent is raised,
a cry goes up: He comes! a radiant sun
rejoicing, presiding, his wedding day.
From end to end of the universe his progress.
No creature, no least being but catches fire from him.

This paraphrase of Psalm 19:1–6 by Daniel Berrigan is from Uncommon Prayer: A Book of Psalms (University of Michigan Press, 1978; Orbis, 1998). Used by permission of the Daniel Berrigan Literary Trust. www.danielberrigan.org

The first section of Psalm 19 is about how the natural world declares the glories of its Maker. The night sky, the psalmist describes, is like a tent that spreads its cover over the sun, parting open every morning to release it on the world. The sun is compared to a bright-eyed, handsome, and happy bridegroom emerging from his chamber, and to a vigorous runner who tracks a massive course.

I like to read Psalm 19:1–6 for Advent, especially the poet-priest Fr. Daniel Berrigan’s paraphrase of it, as his use of he/him/his pronouns instead of it/its draws out a Christological connection I hadn’t seen before in this text, made even more pronounced by the apocalyptic tone Berrigan adopts and the sense of excitement he conveys. The poem can, of course, be read as simply the glorious waking of a day, as the psalmist intended. But there’s another layer I want to explore: signs in the heavens, and the coming of Christ.

In the Christian tradition, Jesus is compared to both a sun and a bridegroom, and he, too, like the skies, “bespeak[s] the glory of God.” “Oriens”—Dawn or Dayspring—is one of the traditional titles of Christ, typically invoked in liturgies on December 21 as part of the O Antiphons cycle. From the Church of England’s Common Worship: “O Morning Star, splendor of light eternal and sun of righteousness: come and enlighten those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death” (cf. Luke 1:78–79; John 8:12; Mal. 4:2). The coming of Jesus—in Bethlehem, in human hearts, and on the last day—illuminates and sets ablaze, revealing who God is and who we ourselves most truly are and exciting the world, flinging abroad the divine light.

As for the bridegroom, Jesus uses this metaphor for himself in his parable of the ten bridesmaids (Matt. 25), as God does in Isaiah 62:5, and indeed one of the major motifs in the book of Revelation is a wedding between Christ and his people. Christ will return to us, scripture suggests, like a husband coming to bring home his new bride.

One of the antiphons for First Vespers of Christmas, I’ve just learned, sung the evening of December 24, connects the bridegroom of Psalm 19 with Jesus. Cum ortus fuerit sol de caelo, the church chants, videbitis Regem regum procedentem a Patre, tanquam sponsum de thalamo suo. (“When the sun shall have risen in the heavens, ye shall see the King of kings coming from the Father, as a Bridegroom from his bride-chamber.”)

Butler, Tanja_Woman Clothed with the Sun — Tanja Butler (American, 1955–), *Woman Clothed with the Sun*, 2008. Acrylic paint, collaged painted paper, and cotton fabric on gessoed acid-free paper, 14 × 5 in. Collection of Victoria Emily Jones.

Artist Tanja Butler further extends Psalm 19’s fittingness for Advent by drawing the passage into conversation with Revelation 12:1–6. This section of John’s Apocalypse introduces us to “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”; she gives birth to a baby boy “who is to rule all the nations” but whom a great dragon seeks to devour. In most Christian interpretations, this Woman of the Apocalypse is associated with the Virgin Mary, and there’s a robust iconographic tradition in this vein.

Butler innovates on that tradition with her mixed-media work Woman Clothed with the Sun by showing the infant Jesus busting out of his mother’s womb like the strong athlete of Psalm 19:5. (Ready. Set. Go!) He has a race to run, a mission to fulfill. He is also shown as the sun that clothes his mother and that emerges from a dark (uterine) tent. He is the source and center point of the explosive rays of colorful light in the painting.

In an ArtWay profile, Butler describes her piece as follows:

Mary is represented with the unborn Christ, Light of the World, ready to “come forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course” (Psalm 19:5). She holds a ladder, referencing both Jacob’s vision and the cross, the ladder of ascent between earth and heaven.

This is a cosmic birth necessitated by a cosmic struggle that will resolve in a cosmic victory: the reunion of God and humanity.

Daniel Joseph Berrigan, SJ, (1921–2016) was an American Jesuit priest, peace activist, award-winning poet, and professor of theology and biblical studies. Through his writings and public witness, he endorsed a consistent life ethic, opposing war, nuclear armament, abortion, capital punishment, and the causes of poverty in the name of Jesus Christ and his holy gospel. Fr. Berrigan, along with his brother Philip, was one of the Catonsville Nine, imprisoned in 1968 for destroying draft files in a protest against the Vietnam War. Later, he spent much of the eighties ministering to AIDS patients in New York City. He is the author of some fifty books.

Tanja Butler (born 1955) is a painter and liturgical artist based in the Albany, New York, area. Her subjects are devotional in character, and her sources of inspiration include Byzantine icons, medieval art, and folk art. Her work is included in the collections of the Vatican Museums, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, the Portland Museum of Art in Maine, and the Boston Public Library. “My aim is to develop imagery that has the simplicity and clarity of a child-like vision,” she says, “required, we’re told, if we are to see the kingdom of God.”