This September, Pope Leo announced that the Vatican is hosting a contemporary art exhibit, featuring 3 artists along with many historical pieces from the Vatican collections. This coincides with the launch of the triennial: 100 artists over the next few years across the world will have their art showcased, sponsored by the Catholic Church. The theme is Exercises in Empathy. It is a rare moment where I agree with the Pope, so I have to talk about it.
How did we get here? Through thousands of years of religious debate and rebellion, done with and because of what was going on in the world.
The Reformation is traditionally marked on October 31st, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the doors of the church in Wittenberg. But as with all things historical, it goes back much further. The Reformation grew out of centuries of turmoil across Europe. In the mid-1300’s the Black plague wiped out more than half of the population of Europe. It left chaos in its wake. Whole towns and families were destroyed, and also it was an economic boon for peasants who now had access to more food and space than ever imagined. That is just going to mess with your belief in God. Scholars around this time would emphasize the suffering of Christ as important. Christ suffered on the Cross, he bled and felt agony and died a truly horrible death. So when we see our loved ones also suffer, they are suffering with Christ, not abandoned to the evils of death.
[#1 PLAGUE PAINTING]
It is, I argue, around here we see the first of many divides happen. How do we reconcile the existence of a God that lets this happen? This is a question as old as Christianity itself, and probably a fair bit older, and is one that we all ask ourselves across denominations and backgrounds.
Some decided that Christ’s suffering makes it possible to not care about our life here, but to prepare for life after death. Our piety means something here and now. Others decided it was impossible for humans to contend with this question, that God is beyond our very conception, and that it is better to proclaim it a mystery and shut the box and carry on. Both are not objectively bad ways to navigate the horrors of mass death. But inside and outside the church, it created some very extreme conclusions. If there is meaning in our suffering, we must have extreme piety! Everything is suffering, all suffering is approved by God! Or, on the other extreme end, it does not matter what happens here at all. We do not need to care, and in fact caring at all about this life and this world ties us to this Earth and doesn’t let us let go. And therefore, we need to help others release their ties to earthly matters.
Works v. Faith. Which one do we follow? And who tells us which faith and which works?
Paul’s letter to the Romans is about Jews and non-Jews who follow Jesus (they aren’t quite calling themselves Christians yet). Specifically, how to non-Jews who do not have a Covenant with God follow Jesus, when Jews who follow Jesus also are following the Torah, the Law. Does it matter if non-Jews are not observing Torah law? Jesus came to fulfill the law but told them to still follow it, after all.
We are reminded that the faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection is what matters. That any works we do are good, but not the key to salvation, only God can do that and no amount of covenant keeping or breaking will make a difference.
These letters are where Luther, and hundreds of others, wrestle with how to be Christian. Ultimately, the conclusion is that while the Church is the Body of Christ, it is also not God. And if a Church (any church) is acting corruptly or immorally, it is the responsibility of the people to reform that.
With the rise of the Reformation movement, with hundreds and thousands of Christians deciding that having a human authority between them and Salvation was not ideal, there was backlash within the Catholic Church as people doubled down on the importance of an authority to offer spiritual guidance and leadership. Again, neither is wrong in principle. When your world has been through an earth-shattering calamity like plague, war, poverty, natural disasters, having someone who is able to confidently and clearly offer answers is incredibly reassuring. And also, knowing you have the ability to experience and discern that knowledge yourself without a potentially fallible human between you and God is also freeing. Freedom, comfort, works and faith. It is their extremes that can cause serious problems. The Catholic Church, relying on the importance of works, would demand that the church spread the gospel and convert whole continents, establishing a culture of colonization. Luther and his contemporaries, became horrifically anti-simetic and sexist. Both participated in violence and oppression. But even amidst the violence, there was dialogue, through art.
Let’s use the scene of Mary Magdalene realizing Jesus is resurrected and in front of her. She goes to touch him, to hug her teacher and friend. He stops her, in a scene known as Noli Me Tangere, or “Touch Me Not”
The Catholic Church knows its art and knows how art is crucial for religious devotion, especially in a world where the vast majority are illiterate. Art was commissioned to directly show the stories of Scripture so that all could understand the importance of Christ. It is where we get images like this-
Catholic painting
[#2 FRA ANGELICO]
Fra Angelico, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Angelico%2C_noli_me_tangere.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=index&utm_content=original
Halos, proportional but an idea that it is of a different time, not trying to be realistic
[#3 HAND HOLBEIN]
By Hans Holbein the Younger - NwFL2mo45cZFIA at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, Noli Me Tangere https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22127153
Looks more of the time, Jesus looks more human, no halos. Which one show more emotion?
The Catholic Church would have its own dialogue within itself, where we see painting after paining portraying Jesus as both the triumphant king of kings, and the humble gardener.
[#4 LAVINIA FONTANA]
Noli Me Tangere by Lavinia Fontana- first famous woman painter in Europe, and she had the distinct honor in 1603 of being called to Rome by Pope Clement VIII. Jesus is wearing a gardening hat, not a crown. But the divinity is present all the same.
In dialogue with what is happening in real life (developments in science, colonialism, changes in politics)
The tension is so intense that is boils over into people burning icons and art- accusing each other of creating idols and worshipping them. Protestant Zealots were famous for accusing others of creating art that was too elaborate and was no longer about the glory of God but the glory of the artist.
[#5 PRAGUE WORKSHOP]
However destructive this is, it is technically dialogue. Though I would hope that none of us think that going to St. Mike’s Cathedral and taking a hammer to their statues is a good idea, I want it made clear that it is a very bad idea and where we as Christians need to reconsider where our conclusions go.
Still, all of these art pieces are in conversation with one another. They are asking whether we explore the Divinity of Christ, or the Humanity of Jesus, in this scene, and how both blend together. By allowing this sharing of ideas, we see where faith and works blend in harmony- it is ours works that bring out the creativity God breathed into us, and faith that it all means something in the end. Whether it is art, or philosophy, or science, or community building, Faith is the reason for the Works, and Works give us material for our Faith. Combined, they fan that spark of divine inspiration, even to this day.
[#6 GRAHAM SUTHERLAND]
https://pallant.org.uk/our-art/christ-appearing-to-mary-magdalen/ (1961, so controversial someone defaced Mary with a ballpoint pen)
This is the problem with AI from a theological perspective. It assumes that the product of the art is the end-goal in itself. Having a picture for picture’s sake, or for its material value. It is not. Faith and works come together in dialogue, and humanity is central for that spark of creativity. It is the process, not the product, that spark the divine.
We are in our own time of upheaval, this is nothing new. Political turmoil, post-pandemic (whatever that means) trauma, the fear that this can all be gone in a blink. We have the solidarity of millenia of humans who have strived to find the reason to keep going, and the ability to do it. Faith, friends, because with the divine spark within us all, nothing is severed from God. It is always worth it. Amen.
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