John 2.1-11: Wedding Dinner...Chicken or Beef

Neither, actually. But we'll get to that. It is the miracle of changing water to wine that manifests Jesus as the Christ in the gospel reading of Epiphany 2C  (John 2:1-11). That is usually where consideration of the story ends. Perhaps a question is raised about the role of Mary, Jesus' mother in the story. But mostly, it's the water and the wine.

It's a hard moment to capture in a single painting.

Most depictions of this gospel passage tell us more about the wedding practices of the artist's time than they do about the scripture. If you do an image search for "wedding at Cana" or "marriage feast at Cana", you will see scenes with musicians (or not), long tables (or not), happy brides and grooms (or not). There will usually be a servant pouring liquid from one container to another or Jesus pointing to the jars to be filled with water. Jesus and Mary are often shown in "Biblical" clothes while the other guests are depicted in the fashion of the artist's day.

Italian painter Paolo Veronese created two versions of this story. The largest was created originally for the refectory of the Benedictine monastery on the Venetian island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Today, courtesy of Napoleon's troops, that work is in the collection of the Louvre in Paris. The size of the work allowed the artist to include details and subplots and references that can be lost in the mix of people. More than 125 guests attend the wedding feast. And on the table is...dessert.

Paolo Veronese. The Marriage Feast at Cana. 1563. 21' x 32.5'. Paris: Musee du Louvre. http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/wedding-feast-cana

The feast has progressed to dessert, and the lack of wine has been noted and addressed by Jesus, who occupies the center of the composition with his mother sitting on his right. The meal steward dressed in green stands to the left of the musicians and is balanced visually by the wine steward, in white brocade, who examines the wine in what is no doubt a Venetian glass. On plates before the guests are dates, grapes, quince and candied fruits. Contemporary dining theory advocated ending a meal with fruit and nuts, accompanied by a glass of wine to "seal the stomach". Soon the guests will offer a final toast (with excellent wine) to the happy couple (shown in the detail below, left) and leave the sumptuous banquet. 

Why, then, is the carver still busy? The meat courses have been served and cleared, but the cleaver is raised as the servant still works. Why?

The carver is, in fact, chopping lamb. He stands directly above Jesus, and serves as a reminder that this is not the only feast at which Jesus will be present. At the Last Supper, Jesus will again sit at a table. And in addition to his role as a worker of miracles, Jesus also has the role of the Lamb of God. It's a solemn reminder. Mary was anxious for her boy to be helpful, to shine here at this feast. But claiming his identity marks a significant step on the road that leads to Jerusalem.

The wedding at Cana in the style of Japanese prints? Absolutely! You can get to the artist's website via the Art&Faith Matters Facebook page. Click on the link.

God Turn All Things to the Best

The readings from Hebrew scripture and the gospel for Baptism of Christ C (Isaiah 43:1-7 and Luke 3:15-22) should remind us of the power of water. The waters of a baptismal service are usually manageable. A font, a bowl or a pool is filled. The waters are calm and controllable. We dip out the water to be poured or duck under the water in an organized fashion.

But there are times when we are reminded of the power of water. Currently the waters of the Mississippi River are flooding riverbanks and breeching levees from Illinois to Louisiana, and the soutthern locations are still seeing rising water. And unless you are in or near one of those places it's easy to remain unaware of what that looks like. 

One night in 1525, German artist Albrecht Durer dreamed about water. When he woke from the dream he attempted to put down in writing and capture in paint the image that had so frightened him in his dream. The image was this:

Albrecht Durer. Dream Vision. 1525. Watercolor on paper. Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna.

In the painting, gigantic falls of water fill the sky. The landscape is dotted with trees and rises in the land. A towered city is in the distance. One plume of water has reached the earth, crashing into the horizon with deep blue color and creating an earth-bound cloud of water. Imagine the force of that water as it hits the earth. This is not a gentle rain that refreshes the earth.

Beneath the picture Durer wrote: “In the year 1525 between Wednesday and Thursday (7-8 June) after Whitsunday during the night I saw this appearance in my sleep, how many great waters fell from heaven. The first struck the earth about four miles away from me with a terrific force, with tremendous clamour and clash, drowning the whole land. I was so sore afraid that I awoke from it before the other waters fell. And the waters which had fallen were very abundant. Some of them fell further away, some nearer, and they came down from such a great height that they all seemed to fall with equal slowness. But when the first water, which hit the earth, was almost approaching, it fell with such swiftness, wind and roaring, that I was so frightened when I awoke that my whole body trembled and for a long while I could not come to myself. So when I arose in the morning I painted above here as I had seen it. God turn all things to the best.”

In Durer's vision the water was significant - even terrifying - enough that it caused him to think of God. Perhaps it also caused him to remember the promise of Isaiah's prophecy that rivers would not overwhelm and that in deep waters God would be there. Those are promises worth remembering on the occasion of Jesus' baptism and on every baptism celebrated in a family of faith. The waters of baptism can be deeper and more consuming that the basin or drops or carefully clear pool would suggest. And for each person who goes through those waters, we pray that God will turn all things to the best.

In the Beginning

It's an old art history trivia question that speaks to the gospel reading for Christmas 2C (John 1:1-18). Here's the set up: in Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, we know that God's right hand reaches out to the newly created Adam. (Detail below.) Here's the question: where is God's left hand and arm? Don't look at the full view until you've made a guess.

Michelangelo. Creation of Adam (detail). Sistine Chapel, 1508-1512. Vatican City, Italy. http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/CSN/CSN_Volta_StCentr.html

OK, now look at the bottom of the page for the full view. Was it what you thought? And, actually what is it? Obviously it's God and a number of other figures floating in space on a cloak-like background. God's left arm is around a female figure, and God's left hand is touching an infant. Who are they?

There is no definitive answer, but there are theories. All the theories wind up with the infant as the Christ Child, so it is the identity of the woman that shapes the meaning of the composition. One theory identifies the female figure as Eve, waiting her turn to be created. Eve, whose name means life, will be the mother of all humanity. A second casting of the figures calls the female figure Mary, who will be the literal mother of Jesus. A third option is that the female figure is Wisdom (see Proverbs 8:22ff.). Yet another proposal is that the female figure is the Holy Spirit (ruach, a feminine noun, in the Hebrew). With this interpretation, the figures become the Trinity, all three persons present in the beginning.

Each of the above propositions concludes with the identification of the infant as the Christ Child. The interpretations by turn feature the Christ as the second Adam, the son of God and one person of the Trinity. However it is interpreted, Michelangelo has caused the hand of God to rest eternally on the child. The artist has placed the Word in the beginning, exactly where John's gospel said he was.

On Art&Faith Matters' Facebook page this week...Epiphany! Travel with the magi by clicking here.