To say that Jesus Christ has been the subject of several works of art in the almost two millennia since his death would be a huge understatement. The holidays and observances – Palm Sunday, holy week, Good Friday, Easter – of this post-Lenten time of year in the Christian calendar have especially been marked.
Many contemporary black artists (including one man in particular) and purveyors of black paintings have thrown their hat into the ring of art commemorating the events of the Passion: i.e. the sequence of events that led up to, those that occurred during, and those which immediately followed the death of Christ. Let’s look at those black art print versions, regarding these events, that are available for public consumption.
For each poster where the name of the artist of the original artwork is not available or not readily apparent (for example, his/her signature is illegible), I will try to declare such.
In the eyes of many biblical historians, the Last Supper was the symbolic beginning of the end of Christ’s sojourn on Earth. All of the gospel books of the New Testament allude to the event. Pictured above are two distinct versions of that event, as seen by two different black painters. The one on the left is by the prolific Haitian artist Alix Beaujour , while the one on the right is the work of Cornell Barnes. Notice how Barnes’ version includes famous historical African-American figures like Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass, Malcolm X, etc. I suspect that Beaujour’s work might also include renowned black men, but I cannot confirm that suspicion. (If someone recognizes a familiar face in Beaujour’s work, I would appreciate it if you could point it out in the Comments section of this blog entry. Thank you.)
If you clicked on the “Last Supper” link above, you will see that we at the day after carry a rendition of that noteworthy feast. Our art print features a very skillful remake of the original piece by Leonardo Da Vinci, and is a superior work in its own right (which is why we stock it).
On the other hand, there are those theologians that believe that the Savior’s ultimate physical demise started in the Garden of Gethsemane (as a matter of fact, the controversial Mel Gibson movie, The Passion of the Christ, begins at this point in the gospels), whose events transpired immediately after the Last Supper. In the piece to the left by Diane Viera, Jesus prays earnestly as his disciples slumber peacefully in the background.
The Giclee print to the far left represents the bound Jesus, a condition he endured from the time he was arrested all through his trial and sentencing. Meanwhile, the print on the right references the crown of thorns that was placed on the flogged Christ figure while he was on trial (as told in three of the four gospels).
Here we have an array of paintings depicting Christ’s crucifixion. The top left print is by Beaujour. As you can see, it recalls that verse in the book of Luke wherein Jesus asks God (to paraphrase) not to punish his persecutors because they were unaware of the extent of their actions. In True Passion (right, top), by Johnny Myers, we see the clouds of darkness that rolled in during the sixth hour of the day of Christ’s death.
Monsieur Beaujour is also responsible for the bottom left work in the quartet, wherein a soldier pierces the side of a now deceased Christ. And the last picture (bottom right) in the sequence is a final look at a crucified Christ on the cross after being pierced.
These next set of prints depict, in order, the sequence of events that took place in preparation for Jesus’ burial: from the removal of his body from the cross (top pics), to the lamenting over his lifeless body (bottom left print), to the conveyance of his mortal coil to its temporary resting place by Joseph of Arimathea (last poster). In this final picture, you can plainly see the spirit of Christ has left his body. Two of the four prints are by Beaujour…
The art montage here shows scenes from Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry. But as far as this blog entry is concerned, I’d like to point out the depiction of his resurrection to the right, as a consequence of his crucifixion (pictured center). Vincent Barzoni stays consistent with his illustration of both Christ’s slain body and his risen form from his Black Resurrection painting above.
To the left is a visual recounting of the tale of Doubting Thomas: that disciple of Christ that did not believe that the resurrected figure of his master was indeed standing before him. That is, until he himself had touched the holes in the Christ’s hands and placed his fingers in the Christ’s pierced side.
Actually, on the aforementioned Alix Beaujour page at negroartist.com (a site I can’t stop raving about ever since I first started discussing African-American art), you can view his graphic interpretation of the Doubting Thomas story.
As you can see and as you would expect, religion is a profound motivator when it comes to art. Great artists like Beaujour, inspired by Scripture, will always create great faith-based art (just as inspired composers will create great music) as long as humankind is alive.
For, as it has been said, Art without Passion is meaningless…
