Father James Martin has a piece on the America site, entitled, "Jesus was not white. Here's why we should stop pretending he was."
The example he uses of what Jesus didn't look like is the "Head of Christ" by Warner Sallman. Which happens to be the picture hanging on our bedroom wall. Which also was the picture hanging on my parents' bedroom wall during my growing up years.
I am not that invested in that picture, except in a sentimental way; since I actually don't pray with an image in mind. We don't know what Jesus looked like, even the ones now who are coming up with more "woke" images.
For me, probably the most credibly accurate images are those derived from the Shroud of Turin, such as the one at the top of the post. The shroud may or may not be authentic, and no one's faith depends on its authenticity. But if it is a fake, it is a very well executed one. No one has been able to duplicate it. I just find the computer generated images fascinating; that they could extrapolate a picture from the stains on the cloth. Particularly worth checking out is this work by Giulio Fanti, a professor at the University of Padua. He executed a life-size 3D statue from the image on the shroud. Prof. Fanti had this to say, "According to our studies, Jesus was a man of extraordinary beauty."
From accounts of visionaries, it seems that Jesus and Mary have appeared in different ways to different people, at different times. We have the miraculous tilma depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe, in which she appears as a native American women. Bernadette of Lourdes described her vision of Mary as young and small, like a child.
And of course there is the Scriptural account of Jesus at the Transfiguration, as in Luke 9:1-2 in which Jesus "... was transfigured before them (Peter James, and John). And his garments became shining and exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller upon earth can make white." A reminder of his glorified state in heaven.
Father Martin went on to say this: "Do I think we should “cancel” White Jesus? If that means destroy images, no. I don't like the idea of destroying images of Christ. Instead, we should promote images of Jesus as inculturated into the cultures in which he now lives. After all, he is risen and is found everywhere."
And, "...But even more important than the pictorial images of Jesus we use (which are important to be sure) is seeing Christ alive in every person. Especially those who are on the margins, those who are persecuted or those who are victimized in any way. Christ lives in them." Which I think all of us would agree with.
And Sallman's "Head of Christ" is staying on my wall.
I'm all set. I have on my living room wall a reproduction of Our Lady of Częstohowa. The "Black Madonna". Sometimes I heard explanations that it was centuries of candle smoke. Nah. The icon was painted in a region where people were that color and a color probably close to the Lord's. For centuries, lightskinned polish people have been venerating this very darkskinned image of Jesus and his mother. Two years ago, I went with two cousins to take my mother to Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Częstohowa in Doylestown, PA. There were a significant number of African Americans there. I was happy to see it.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, if you grew up as a black Christian instead of a white mainstream Christian, and every picture you ever saw of Jesus, Mary, angels, apostles showed a white person, often with blond hair and blue eyes in the case of Mary and her blond baby, how would you feel?
ReplyDeleteAs James Martin concedes, people from the part of the world where Jesus was born almost always have dark hair, brown eyes, and skin tones of various depths of brown - not pinkish white. There are a lot of problems with the euro-centrism of the Roman Catholic mass as it is. Having all the religious art (not sure this picture, found everywhere, is great art, but...) portraying white people is not only not true to reality, but can be very off putting.
Why not also have a portrait of the a Black Madonna of Poland, or add icons found in most orthodox churches that seem to reflect mid-East coloring?
It seems that Martin is inventing an out to excuse the status quo. Great European paintings used European models. The wealthy who paid for them may have felt happier with paintings of people who looked like themselves. But today, too much of what is found on church and catholic school walls, and in children’s bible story books is insipid illustrations of people who do not look like the real Jesus, Mary and apostles. The subliminal message for whites as well as racial minorities is that white is best. Time to balance it out. Jesus was white, so....it must be best - even if untrue.
Although I am not crazy about the LA cathedral, I have read that the art is much better than most, and depicts Mideast saints, African saints, Asian saints etc as reflecting their true ethnic heritages. It’s getting easier to find general children’s books with illustrations of children of different heritages, but kids bibles, prayer books, and children’s religious Christmas story books are often still way too white. I have to really hunt to find books for my biracial grandchildren.
I have seen the pictures of the art in the LA Cathedral (in a magazine article and online) and think they are good. Would like to see them in person, if I ever get to LA.
DeleteAs I said I am not particularly attached to the Sallman picture except that it is a keepsake. I'm also not seeing how that picture is so far off the mark, the image of Jesus is tanned, and has brown hair and eyes. My late brother-in-law, who was half Lebanese, had that coloring.
It doesn't come naturally to me to pray with images in mind, I guess I just try to enter into the presence. I know it is meaningful to many people to pray with icons. But I can't connect with that style.
I do find the images generated from the shroud neaningful and touching, particularly Giulio Fanti's 3D statue.
I don’t pray with images in mind either. But many people do, especially children. The man in the Sallman picture looks European to me, even with his coloring. Not every European has blond hair!
DeleteWell, no. I used to have very dark brown hair. Still have brown eyes, fortunately that doesn't change with age!
DeleteThe Sallman Jesus looks kind. And a little sad.
I had dark brown hair when young, but have blue eyes. My mother had auburn red hair. My dad was dark blond, as is our eldest son. The other two have very dark brown hair. The two Asian American grandchildren have black hair. The African American grandson has medium brown hair. The two grandsons with the French/Polish mom have blond hair and blue eyes. Someone once remarked on seeing us all together that our family is it’s own UN - German and Irish heritage Americans, Jamaican, Vietnam Namese, French/Polish Europeans. Those two little boys have citizenship in three countries - the US, Poland and France.
DeleteKatherine, my favorite version of a euro- appearing Jesus is called “Laughing Jesus”. It was in the room where my centering prayer group met. Christianity often comes across as a negative, dour belief system, often reflected in the art. Bloody corpses on crosses can be a bit of a turnoff. Saints carrying their own heads, Stephen being stoned to death, people being torn apart by lions. Etc.
DeleteMaybe some better images should be tried, here is one
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk01xsdFBCuntS5DS7tXfzkISOR-OgQ%3A1593611553795&source=hp&ei=IZX8XunRLbyKytMPg7qL8AQ&q=laughing+jesus+picture&oq=laughing+jesus&gs_lcp=ChFtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1ocBABGAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCAAyAggAMgIIADoHCCMQ6gIQJzoECCMQJzoFCAAQkQI6BQgAELEDOgQIABBDOgUILhCRAjoHCC4QsQMQQzoFCC4QgwE6BwgAELEDEENQqQ5YgjNgxD1oAXAAeACAAWuIAZkIkgEEMTMuMZgBAKABAbABDw&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-hp#imgrc=eokMk-l7GhaEdM
I'm sure Jesus did laugh!
DeleteRemoved by poster
DeleteAnd then there is this: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-priest-challenges-bishop-over-church-s-15355922.php
P.s. BTW, I don’t think that we should “cancel” white-centric art in churches, books, homes, and schools, but a real effort to replace some of it, or at least add to it might open the eyes of the many white “christian” racists out there to the fact that a Jesus did not actually look like them.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI have a devotion to the Sacred Heart, but I don't have any paintings or statues of it/him around. I once looked everywhere and couldn't find anything that felt right to my eyes.
ReplyDeleteMy even bigger beef is that Our Lady of Guadalupe -- who, by intent, never looked like a Jewish mother to start with -- keeps popping up with blue eyes and blonde hair. Proving what to whom?
I have a copy of a Celtic cross for religious art. There is also a carving of Jesus washing Peter's feet in gen-u-wine olive wood from the Holy Land. And a small replica of Chicago's Piscasso because I like it. I would hang scaled down copies of the LA Cathedral hangings if there were any.
Tom, I too have a Celtic cross and no pictures of Jesus, Mary or any of the other first century people in the Bible.
ReplyDeleteI also have a beautiful Madonna and child carved in wood that was a gift from a friend when she returned from working in Africa. The same friend gave me an entire Christmas crèche set of figures, also carved from wood in Africa. The figures look very different from the American set I also have. But my favorite might be a small replica of the Good Shepherd carving found in the tiniest chapel of the Washington National Cathedral.
https://images.app.goo.gl/tgFWxoJi68dNcLGA8
I could live with that Good Shepherd, but he looks a little old, to my mind's eye. I should have mentioned that we have a Trina Paulus Holy Family in our bedroom. Sort of triangular. Obviously, we take it for granted since I didn't think of it at first, and it is a nice piece.
DeleteI like that Good Shepherd image. And I think it is okay that he looks older than Jesus' earthly age would have been. If he is universal, that extends to older people, too.
DeleteWhen my husband was in deacon formation, the classes took place at Immaculata Monastery, which is the motherhouse of the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict. One of their missions is in Tanzania, and they had some nice art from there on display.
Actually, up close, I would say the Good Shepherd looks thirtyish. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it because the sculptor was able to convey a tenderness in the face that is seldom captured in stone. Also hard to discern in the photo. I was frequently near the cathedral some years ago, and I often stopped into the little chapel. It is outside the main cathedral and was accessible at all hours from outdoors. Now that is not possible (Any time access) as gates were added with the rebuilding following the severe damage from the earthquake in 2011. The repairs still go on, but now mostly out of sight. The chapel can seat about six people but although I often found flowers in front of the sculpture, I never encountered another person. I’m retired for several years now, seldom go downtown. I miss the Goid Shepherd chapel.
DeleteGood - not goid!
DeleteKatherine, the friend who gave me the wooden carved statues worked in Tanzania for a year. But she also has worked for months at a time in francophone Africa countries over the last 20 years as she is a French national and is fully bilingual. The first several years she worked on the HIV/AIDS crises in African countries. She does public health education and is an Ebola expert.. She currently works for the UN. They switched her to the pandemic several months ago.
ReplyDeleteI don't object if Italian artists have portrayed Jesus and Mary as Italian art models. Nor if Africans portray Jesus as African.
ReplyDeleteI'm a white guy whose ancestors came over here from Europe. That's my heritage. My great-grandparents and their contemporaries are the ones who built the Catholic schools and parishes I've attended over the course of my life. If they decorated those buildings with statues and paintings that are rooted in their particular heritages, then I don't blame them for that.
As someone who occasionally is reasonably bright, I also can grasp without much difficulty that Jesus may not have looked like an Italian or an Irishman or, in the case of my heritage, a Fleming.
Maybe the juxtaposition of ethnic heritage and verisimilitude creates dissonance for some people. It doesn't bother me. Sorry.
Oh, heavens, no. He never could have looked like a Fleming. I don't have any trouble with people adapting their looks to their image of Jesus. I do have a problem FINDING anybody whose adapted image of Jesus looks anything like the Jesus I talk to after I wake up in the morning. But that is just the commercial side; images I could buy. As for the existence of the images, to each his Dulcinea.
DeleteJim, you may understand that Jesus wasn’t a white guy but a man with Mideast appearance,. But a whole lot of American Christians, including Catholics, don’t. That’s why too many want a white “Christian” America.
ReplyDeleteAs a deacon, you should understand the power of symbols. You sound a bit defensive at the moment.
"That’s why too many want a white “Christian” America."
DeleteI don't even know what that means. What is a white "Christian" America? That's a phrase I've never heard the Catholic church utter.
I think "white Christian America" is a political term, rather than a religious one. Definitely there is a subset out there which would identify with it. But I also have never heard the Catholic church say it, in any official way. Though there are Catholics in the subset.
DeleteI think we can all appreciate the art that we like, that has meaning for us, and at the same time understand that others, for valid reasons, have different preferences.
In the end, art is an expression of the human spirit, and an exercise of a God-given gift.
Yes, Katherine, it is a political term. It refers to those in the US who are pushing a white nationalist agenda. The movement includes a lot of evangelicals and want the US to remain majority white and christian. It excludes minorities and non- Christians, especially Muslims. Some Catholics support this movement too.
DeleteIt is not a term used by bishops or other catholic clergy ( who are often ignored by this group), because they embrace the cause of immigrants, primarily from Latin America, but also from Asia and Africa. I put the word christian in quotes because the agenda they are working towards ( with the support of some Catholics but definitely not officially ) is not something that those who truly follow Christ would support. A lot of comments on Catholic websites reflect animus towards Hispanic immigrants especially. One man who commented daily at the America site before they changed the system could be counted on to oppose any statement of the bishops, or any article in America that supported immigrants seeking asylum, the Dreamers, etc. He also said that those from Africa, Muslims, and Latinos should not come, because they don’t assimilate. Sadly, he is not the only catholic on catholic sites to express these views and he got a lot of support from other Catholics. He seems to have disappeared since America changed the comment system. He is probably at a more congenial site now. Maybe father Z welcomes him. ( is father Z still around? )
It is fine to keep the euro features inspired art that has been in churches, homes and parishes for decades or centuries because they represent the history of those churches.
However, it would also be good to ADD sacred art that represents ALL the followers of Christ- a Black Madonna, some icons, statues of lesser known saints of every race.
If the RCC is to represent itself as truly universal, then perhaps some of the art should reflect this. This would not only help minority members of mostly white parishes feel that they really are part of the community, it might open the eyes of the majority in the community to really understand the universal church as reflecting the universal Christ. By not having art that that depicts a Jesus and everyone else as white Europeans exclusively, those of us who are descended from white Europeans might become more truly understanding of the universality of the Christ - he came for ALL and to understand that the Christ can be depicted in many ways. Jesus, however, was a human being, born in a certain place, whose people do not look like white Europeans.
Our parish, with its Polish roots, does have a large picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe in the vestibule. I think it was a gift, and I enjoy the way the giver embellished the matting with flowers and sequins. The granddaughters would like that, too.
DeleteA couple of more articles on the subject - actually one is a book review. Will make most white readers (including me) squirm a bit, I think. But, both provide a lot of food for thought.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/new-book-urges-white-christians-assess-their-abuses-faith
https://religionnews.com/2020/06/24/how-jesus-became-white-and-why-its-time-to-cancel-that/
Off-point at this point in the convo, but people up through the later Middle Ages were far less concerned with race and ethnicity than we are now. They were all about the iconography and what it conveyed to an illiterate population.
ReplyDeleteTheir depictions of Jesus, the saints, and the holy family were anachronistic and incorporated all sorts of apocryphal details (which is why St. Joseph is often portrayed as an old man).
Perhaps there is a reason God chose to incarnate at a time when there were no cameras, and when nobody was interested in taking the likenesses of working-class people. Maybe we're supposed to see Christ in everybody and in every time?
Hi, Jean! I hope you and your fsmily are staying well.
DeleteI think you are right that "...we're supposed to see Christ in everybody and in every time."
Jean, Thank you for pointing this out. but people up through the later Middle Ages were far less concerned with race and ethnicity than we are now. They were all about the iconography and what it conveyed to an illiterate population.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with this: Maybe we're supposed to see Christ in everybody and in every time?
I have just started reading Richard Rohr's latest book, "The Universal Christ". This is the theme, but it it is not restricted to seeing Christ in everyone, every time, but in seeing the Cosmic Christ in the entire universe, in all creation.
“Human sympathy is the best and easiest way to open the heart space and to make us live inside our own bodies. God never intended most human beings to become philosophers or theologians, but God does want all humans to represent the very Sympathy and Empathy of God. And it’s okay if it takes a while to get there. Our central message again bears repeating: God loves things by becoming them. We love God by continuing the same pattern.”
I think a lot of christians struggle with representing the "sympathy" and "empathy" of God. I certainly do.
Rohr writes: “The revelation of the Risen Christ as universal and eternal was clearly affirmed in the Scriptures (Colossians 1, Ephesians 1, John 1, Hebrews 1) and in the early church, when the euphoria of the Christian faith was still creative and expanding. In our time, however, this deep mode of seeing must be approached as something of a reclamation project. When the Western church separated from the East in the Great Schism of 1054, we gradually lost this
profound understanding of how God has been liberating and loving all that is. Instead, we gradually limited the Divine Presence to the single body of Jesus, when perhaps it is as
ubiquitous as light itself—and uncircumscribable by
human boundaries.”
“There is only Christ. He is everything and he is in everything” (Colossians 3:11). If I were to write that today, people would call me a pantheist (the universe is God), whereas I am really a panentheist (God lies within all things, but also transcends them), exactly like both Jesus and Paul.”
Rohr is a Franciscan, and I find myself repeatedly drawn to the Franciscan focus on Incarnation. To me, that is the most important mystery of christianity, not the resurrection. And certainly not atonement!
I've missed your contributions, Jean. Glad to see you back.
Thanks for the references above. Back in the day when we had nuns marching in Selma, Ala. ("No, Sister, you may not go to Alabama and make a spectacle of yourself." "But, Mother Superior, Francis himself took off all his clothes in public." "Never mind Francis. He was a radical.") and Dan Berrigan wore a new peace symbol pendant every day, and Msgr. George Higgins could be seen over Walter Reuther's shoulder as Reuther locked arms with Martin Luther King... Catholics seemed like an awfully lefty crowd. But weren't. I assumed the current flavor of rightwing Catholics have about as much support from the rank and file as the old leftwingers did. After reading the review of Wilson-Hartgrove I am not as sure.
DeleteAs for Salman's Head of Christ, I haven't seen it that often, but when I saw it I assumed it was Thomas Kincade or one of his glowwormy followers. I had no idea it was that old.
Tom, my grandma had a picture of the Sacred Heart in her dining room. I don't know what happened to it, but it was actually halfway decent. The ones I don't like are the ones that make Jesus look like a girl. Which would be fine if he had been one, but he wasn't.
DeleteRohr reflects the "Catholic imagination," which, among other things, posits that God is present in all creation, and that this world plays a part in the Kingdom (vs. this world being merely an obstacle course you have to run successfully on the way to the Kingdom).
DeleteI am a piss-poor Catholic, but a big cheerleader for the Catholic imagination.
Yes, welcome back Jean!
ReplyDeleteYes, welcome back!
DeleteJean - you've been in my thoughts recently, for a reason which is at least somewhat related to the topic at hand. I've been contemplating that so much of the ferment that is going on in our country is related to sign and symbol. George Floyd's death was horrifying as a single event, but it has galvanized the country because it symbolizes a (or more than one) deeper malaise, and the country as a whole is saying, "Enough!"
ReplyDeleteThe desire to purge our public spaces of statues that honor less-than-admirable people constitutes public reactions to public symbols.
What we're seeing is what I think of as the Revenge of the Liberal Arts. I think I've shared before this comment by Mark Bauerlein that "Universities are large STEM research centers with small liberal arts colleges attached to them." He's referring primarily to the funding discrepency, as well as the discrepancy in demand, both from students and from the economy, for people with backgrounds in STEM and the liberal arts respectively.
But people still are humans, and symbol and sign still speak to them. Not all of the ferment we are seeing is healthy or well-thought-out - some of it seems excessive to me. Maybe, if there were more people attending liturgy and reading and discussing poetry - if their souls were being fed - we could have a more effective national conversation about some of these matters.
"...if their souls were being fed..." I think people's souls are pretty much on a starvation diet right now.
DeleteWelcome back Jean
ReplyDeletePerhaps there is a reason God chose to incarnate at a time when there were no cameras,
Also that Jesus did not choose to be a writer. And that there are four Gospels, five if you count Q as a separate one.
An that he taught in Aramaic when all the Gospels were written in Greek.
Seems like the Holy Spirit did not want us to be able to think we really know Jesus. Of course we have done a good job of ignoring the Holy Spirit.
When I was a Jesuit novice, I balked at the idea of doing Ignatian mediations, of imagining a scene with Jesus what he was like, what he would say, why I would say. All of that seemed to me really made up and likely to full of projection. I have always felt more comfortable with the Divine Office which mostly has words from scripture or highly influenced by scripture.
Keeping a journal has served much the function that other people probably find in meditation. However the journal is really a conversation with myself into which the Spirit sometimes sneaks in.
"...I balked at the idea of doing Ignatian mediations, of imagining a scene with Jesus what he was like, what he would say, why I would say. All of that seemed to me really made up and likely to full of projection."
DeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who felt like that. I was never able to do Ignatian meditation. I have kept a journal sporadically. Sometimes very sporadically.
We are in good company. There was some great saint I forget which one who also had the same difficulty.
DeleteIgnatian meditation doesn’t work for me either. Centering prayer does, No words. It is in the wordless silence that I sometimes hear God whisper. Or maybe it’s the breath of the Holy Spirit. There is a path for each of us, but the path is not the same for everyone.
DeleteI don’t keep a journal.´i haven’t ever tried to.
Sometimes I've thought I ought to write memoirs, in case I got Alzheimer's, it would tell me who I am. But don't know if it works that way.
DeleteSorry, Ignatian meditation does work for me as long as I don't try to overdo it.
DeleteNo need for sorry, Tom. The important thing is finding something that works for one.
Delete