He Was Taken Up Before Their Very Eyes

Happy Easter!

So I don’t typically talk about an image on Easter, but this year I felt like adding one in again. This image is from Hagia Sophia or Church of Holy Wisdom. The Hagia Sophia was the most beautiful church in the world, when it was finished Justinian exclaimed:

‘’Glory to God who has deemed me worthy of accomplishing such a work! O Solomon! I have vanquished thee’’

It was so beautiful that when the Ottoman Empire took over, they didn’t destroy the church but chose to instead convert it into a mosque. What is most interesting is that during this conversion different Christian imagery was destroyed but many mosaics weren’t. This is extremely unusual as pictures of faces weren’t allowed in religious spaces in the Muslim faith. But thanks to Sultan Mehmed II for, whatever reason, choosing to preserve these pieces we have our image for today:

Christos Panto Krator or the Deesis Mosiac

This is a huge image of Christ, created to illustrate God’s presence and him watching over us. It is in the traditional style of the Byzantine art as it is flat and 2-D, a throwback to separate the Christian art from the Greeks and Romans.

Jesus is depicted with a halo, something that would continue to be a part of Christ images, and is older in this mosaic-stern, serious, more of the judgement of Christ to come in Revelations.

What also makes this image striking and noteworthy is that in his hand he holds the bible-showing the importance of the Gospel and his teachings. To me, looking at it reminds me of The Great Commission, Christ rising into heaven and urging his disciples to share his message.

“⁶ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

⁹ After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹⁰ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:6-11

For more paintings of Christ, go to With That, He Bowed His Head and Gave Up His Spirit

For more Byzantine art, go to Entry into Jerusalem

Entry into Jerusalem

So the first image we are going to look at is the depiction of Jesus Christ entering Jerusalem for Passover, this day now known as Palm Sunday

“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’

 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, ‘What are you doing, untying that colt?’ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.  Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

‘Hosanna!^[a]’

‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’^[b]

‘Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!’

‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ –Mark 11:1-10

Now Duccio di Buoninsegna or Duccio was a very popular painter. This is his painting Entry into Jerusalem.

This is one of the 26 images painted on the back of the Maestà altarpiece. Duccio’s work was closer to the flat Byzantine style, that occurred before this period. His work tends to have no perspective, as in the spacing to create realistic distances, and is usually very staged.

Like most artists of the time, Duccio was more focused on showing all the people and the action, rather than depicting a realistic scene. For instance having all the disciples grouped together to the left, overlapping bodies to show faces clearly, rather than having some completely overpass the others as they would look in a real crowd.

The crowd on the left is interesting, as the children look more like miniature adults. The people too are arranged as steps in a staircase in order to see all of their faces rather than depict them as one would see people grouped together.

Duccio played very close attention to the text and tries to represent every aspect of the story in his artwork. He makes sure the all the players: from disciples to palms to the donkeys to the crowd-have a place in the painting.

Something that is very unique about this particular painting of Duccio’s is that he choose to create a type of perspective in this piece as you can see with the building in the background and the men in the trees, although the men are not quite proportionate.

In the foreground we also see that Duccio has created a strong landscape with rocks and trees. The tree directly behind Jesus’ head is supposed to represent the fig tree that Jesus withers in a later verse, Mark 11:12-26.

For more on Duccio, go to The Betrayer’s Kiss

For more depictions of Jesus’ entry, go to The Triumphal Entry

Going on a Treasure Hunt

Day 2) Most Treasured Item

Now this is a hard question. There are just so many things I love, how could I choose just one? Well I can’t, sorry. Instead I am going to list my top 5 treasured items.

5) My Library

I know this sounds like a copout, but it’s the truth. I have so many favorite books in there that it would be hard to pick just one. I have classics, mysteries, horror, romance, comics, my bible, childhood favorites, books that were gifts, books that were recommended, books over a hundred years old; it’s a lot and I value every one.

For more bookish posts, go to Walk My Way

4) Tea Mugs

I love drinking tea and I have three special mugs. My first mug I won at the fair. The game was a bunch of glass cups and bowls stacked up in a pyramid, and the point of it was to toss your quarters into them. Whichever ones the coins landed in, you were able to take home. I won two glasses, a bowl, and a beer mug. But I don’t like beer, so I use that mug for my tea which is awesome as it is gigantic!

My second favorite mug is one I made after going to Disneyland with my friends. I wanted to bring back a souvenir, but couldn’t find anything I really liked. So when I got home I went to Walmart.com and made a collage mug with pics from the trip.

And my third mug, a pint sized mug that comes with a lid. It is AWESOME!

For more on tea, go to Never Big Enough

3) Star Wars Collection

Some of you might think I’m strange or a loser, but I don’t care. I love Star Wars and think it is the coolest thing ever. I have a huge collection of all kinds of Star Wars memorabilia.

I have action figures (Barbie size) of Han Solo, Princess Leia, Obi Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, and Chewbacca; a stuffed Chewbacca; a R2D2 mug; two commemorative coins (princess Leia & Darth Vader); all of the collectable Slurpee cups, 2 special edition Burger King crowns (one with the characters from the original and the other with characters from the new film); the graphic novel of Return of the Jedi; Star Wars Monopoly, two Star Wars watches; and much much more. It has taken me quite some time to hunt down some of these objects, and I would hate to part with them.

For more on Star Wars, go to We Want You

2) Tippi Hedren’s autograph on my copy of The Birds

So I haven’t gotten around to reviewing this film for Horrorfest yet, but will be soon. This is one of my all-time favorite Alfred Hitchcock films along with being the first of his films I had ever seen, quickly becoming the gateway to the road of my obsession. Not only was this the first Alfred Hitchcock film I have ever seen, but the first one I have ever owned, saving up my money and purchasing it, And believe me that took a lot as I was a young girl (about 7 or 8) and didn’t get an allowance.

Anyways, one year when I was in college I was looking at the paper and saw Tippi Hedren was going to be at Bodega Bay (where the film took place) and was going to be signing autographs. I had already made plans with my family that were unbreakable, but encouraged my friends to check it out, and if they did could they please take my DVD with them.

Long story short they stood in a massive line and had to pay (to this day none of them will reveal how much no matter how hard I try to get it out of them) in order to get the autograph for me. Not only is it awesome to have Tippi Hedren’s signature on a film that changed my life, but every time I look at it I am reminded of how amazing my friends are and how much they care about me. 🙂

1) Clint Eastwood Autographed picture

Sorry the pic is of low quality and a bit blurry (I purposely made my real name hard to read.

Anyways, yes you all now how much I simply adore Clint Eastwood. I think he is an amazing actor and a total hottie. Last year I wrote him a fan letter and sent a picture (in a self addressed stamped envelope) asking him to please sign it. I also gushed about how much I loved him as an actor. In December I was surprised with the greatest gift of all, my photo back with his signature. Not only is it an amazing piece of memorabilia to own, but it makes me feel so special to know that Clint took time out of his day for little ole’ me.

For more Clint Eastwood, go to Year of the Anniversaries 

To start 30 Day Challenge from the beginning, go to Musical Madness

 

I Before E, Especially After P

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!

Thanksgiving is a time set apart so that we can be thankful for all the good things in our lives. It is also time to spend with family and friends. It is a time to eat tons of food as we celebrate. And what says Thanksgiving more than one special treat? Pie!!!

Yep, I love pie!

Yep. Tomorrow I will be stuffing my face.

The things we love are not always good for us:

But who cares, pass the pie!!

And I mean you better give it over:

Don’t forget:

Hope you all have a great day!

For more on Thanksgiving, go to Thanks A Lot

For more on Supernatural, go to Just a Moment

For more on Dean Winchester, go to The Animal I Have Become

For more bible verses, go to Happily Ever Aftermath

For more on Twin Peaks, go to Werewolves Roam Among Us

For more of my favorite quotes, go to Fanning All Over the Place

Path of Palms

Hey, Happy Palm Sunday everyone!

Now I know that not all of you are Christian and celebrate it, but way back I told you all I was a Christian and it is a holiday I always celebrate. I’m doing the same thing as last year, counting down the days with different art pieces from history. I hope you like this year’s picks.

“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives,Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away…The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’

‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’

‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Matthew 21:1-9

Happy Palm Sunday!

For more go to Palm Sunday