As promised, I did not forget about the beloved Notre Dame! I trust in the last couple weeks you’ve seen more pictures of the world’s most famous cathedral than you can shake an aspergillum at, so I won’t post more pictures here. No doubt, we also know that Notre Dame was touted as the loveliest, most famous example of French Gothic architecture in the world. I’m just going to say something here and risk the backlash. 

French Gothic architecture is… not my favorite. Am I devastated that this incredible, ancient house of God burned? Completely. I’m just saying. Gargoyles? Not pretty. 

Why do they want to scare the parishioners?

In addition to my disdain toward gargoyles, I also don’t love the thin, elongated, often distorted figures characteristic of Gothic art. BUT(tress), I do appreciate its grandeur. Plus, religion is at the core of all French Gothic art, which I always find fascinating. We also have the French Gothic artists to thank for making stain-glass so popular. So, I admit, though it isn’t my favorite art period, it certainly has plenty of merit.

Take Enguerrand Quarton’s Pietà of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, for instance.



It’s unique as a pieta in that Quarton included other figures besides Jesus and Mother Mary. John is holding Jesus’ head, and Mary Magdalene weeps on the far right. It’s lovely. Jesus’ mom looks peaceful, which is characteristic of most pietas. It implies she has known from the beginning the fate of her first-born, that He isn’t gone for good. 

Zoom in to see the halos around John, Mary, and Mary’s heads.

I wish the other guy wasn’t in it. Apparently, that is Jean de Montagnac, the fellow who commissioned the painting. Is he really contributing to the scene? I would argue not. But it was a different time; if you paid for a painting, you could also be featured in the painting, and that was that.

Another difference between then and now: if a church was built today with the grandiose of Notre Dame, it would face all kinds of scrutiny, and rightly so! We don’t need swanky churches; we need to use our resources more wisely (and humanely) than that. Which is why there will never be another Notre Dame. They’ll repair that one of course, but it will never be the same. Huge chunks of the greatest example of French Gothic architecture are just gone forever. And that is enough to make even the most gargoyle-fearing girl cry.

Please don’t think because I am not blogging about the Notre Dame fire, it wasn’t on the short list for today’s post. I want to write about that very, very soon. But it is Holy Wednesday, after all, and (French people, don’t hate me!) Resurrection still trumps disastrous fire. I think Notre Dame would agree.

Holy Wednesday (also called Spy Wednesday, which is what FBI agents call every Wednesday, so I’m sticking with Holy Wednesday) is the day Jesus went to Simon the Leper’s house and Mary Magdalene poured that super pricey oil on his feet, while Martha tidied up (it would be hard not to worry about dust bunnies when the Savior of the world is sitting in your living room, right?!) Of all the anointing pictures I found, this is my favorite.

I’m not sure who the artist is. I found it on James Woodward’s website, but it’s unclear if he’s the artist. If you know, tell me! Isn’t it lovely? Mary’s anguish is practically tangible. And Jesus, as always, is acting as Comforter even though we all know He’s the one deserving of comfort here. It’s just so Jesus. And that hand! It communicates strength, protection, and love, rather than fear, nerves, and judgement. There’s a lot of feeling portrayed in that hand.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also take this opportunity to post my favorite painting of all time: The Last Supper. I don’t care if that is cliché. My second favorite is Mona Lisa (just kidding.) There is just SO MUCH SYMBOLISM in The Last Supper! I eat it right up. Ha. A little Maundy Thursday humor for you. Truly, I could read interpretations of this painting all day. Da Vinci really brought his A-game with this one. Though he picked a heck of a project to start experimenting with tempera and oil. Epic fail.

My favorite part of this painting is… well, Jesus. He’s always my favorite. But my second favorite is Thomas. He’s often depicted in paintings as pointing or waving his index finger around. That’s a nod to when Jesus returns and Thomas insisted on putting his finger in Jesus’ wounds. Isn’t that brilliant? There’s much conversation about whether Leonardo meant to portray Jesus with a natural sort of halo from the daylight, or that’s just conincidence. I think it was intentional, because it was just the style to do so in the Renaissance, introduced by none other than our man, Da Vinci. What do you think?

I hope you all have a blessed week of reverence. I hope you get to hear a beautiful rendition of “Amazing Grace.” I hope your church is jam packed and that you cry tears of joy throughout the service. I hope you eat good food with people you love. That you don’t stress about the dust bunnies! That you delight in little girls and boys in their Easter outfits. And most of all, that your Easter Sunday is lovely, meaningful, and sacred.

Hump Day has never felt so good! Reality didn’t hold back at all in slapping me in the face after Spring Break last week. Jim and I went to Jamaica, where it was all sleeping in and mint mojitos. My alarm sure did go off early on Monday. We’re slowly getting back into the swing of things, but every now and then I still taste a mix of mint and sunscreen and it takes me back to this time last week when winning a friendly shuffleboard bet* was my biggest stressor. 

We enjoyed a lot of the country’s musical art, but didn’t see much in the way of the visual arts. I did some research to find some Jamaican art to share!

Barrington Watson is the big wig in Jamaican art. He attended the Royal College of Art in the UK (to start with; if I listed his whole resume, we’d be here all day!) and painted scenes like this one, that I love so much!

Does this capture motherhood, or what? Except the laying down part.

 
Ken Spencer had less prestigious training (that is, he went to all the most famous museums in Europe and taught himself the best techniques), but is still described as Jamaica’s most “prolific” artist. His art is much more Impressionistic than Watson’s, but I love the bright colors he uses!

I met a fisherman in Jamaica, and he really did look like this!

Spring Break might be over, but never mind me; I’m just going to gaze at these paintings and try not to spill this mojito on my keyboard.

*Are you curious about the bet? If I won, Jim had to stop rehashing the Michigan State basketball game; if he won, I couldn’t keep trying to make an itinerary while we were on vacation. He won by ONE POINT! It was “Izzo this and Ward that” the rest of the week!