Acts 4.32-35: The Rest of the Story

The followers of Jesus held all things in common. That's the phrase that most often gets lifted out of Acts 4:32-35 (Easter 2B). It's an image that has inspired intentional Christian communities since the moment the words were written. Living together in peace and harmony. Sharing all you have. Why can't Christians today get along like that?

The writer of Acts (and the Renaissance artists who illustrated this text) might lead you to ask, "Why couldn't Christians then get along like that?" Because in the very next section of the Acts text we get a full example of people who didn't share everything they had. Ananias and Sapphira sold a field and didn't share all of the proceeds with their community. It did not end well for Ananias. And Raphael and Masaccio want to make sure that you know that part of the story. So they pair the ideal and the reality in their art.

(Left). Masaccio. Distribution of Alms and the Death of Ananias. 1426-1427. Florence: Brancacci Chapel, S. Maria del Carmine. (Right) Raphael. Cartoon for the Death of Ananias. 1515-1516. London: Victoria and Albert Museum.

Massacio has Peter passing along funds to a mother holding her infant child. Literally he hands the money over Ananias' body. Raphael separates the two actions. Ananias dies in the lower right corner while monies are being distributed at the left of the canvas. At the far right is Sapphira (in a green gown) counting the coins that are her share of the profit. She pays no attention to what is happening to Ananias.

In both works the body on the ground is that of Ananias, whose death is told in Acts 5:1-6. In between the idealist account of everyone sharing is a two-verse reference to a Jesus follower named Barnabas who sold a field and did lay the proceeds at the feet of the disciples. It did happen within the community of believers. But not all the time. Hence the presence of a prostrate Ananias in these two compositions illustrating the distribution of alms.

At once the images are reminders of the need to share the gifts we have been given and a vivid warning about what happens if we don't. That must have taken off at least a little of the early Christian community's idealistic shine.

For thoughts about Thomas (John 20:19-31), click here, here, or here.
This week on Art&Faith Matters Facebook, a quote in search of a source. (But it really works with the Acts passage.)

John 20.19-31: Thomas...Without the Adjective

Leonadro da Vinci. The Last Supper. Wall painting/experimental techniques. 1498. Milan: Cenacolo Vinciano. http://www.turismo.milano.it/wps/portal/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/en/situr/home/artecultura/musei/loc259

It is arguably the most recognized artistic interpretation of the Last Supper, and it remains the subject of theory and conjecture. Are there hidden meanings in the composition? Most recently Ross King has suggested that Leonardo included self-portraits among the disciples, making himself both James the Less and Thomas. The identification of figures is based on a drawing in The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. The disciples are (from left): Bartholomew, James the Less, Andrew, Judas, Peter, John, Christ, Thomas, James the Greater, Philip, Matthew, Thaddeus, Simon.

That makes Thomas the face closest to Jesus (though James' hand is closer to Jesus). Does it look like a face that should only be known as a doubter? Which exact moment is depicted is no more certain than the potential meanings of the painting, but whatever moment it is, there is much energy around the table. Disciples jump to their feet and gesture. They look at one another and at Jesus.

Thomas is, like the other disciples, astounded. He looks at Jesus with his right index finger pointing directly up. Perhaps he is objecting. Perhaps he is preparing to make a point or present a protest. One "restorer" along the way turned that raised finger into a loaf of bread(!). Whatever the statement, he is making it quite vigorously, and it is more effective to raise a finger than to wave a loaf of bread in the direction of our Lord and Savior.

Visually there is a link between that raised finger and the finger placed in the wound in Jesus' side in Caravaggio's The Incredutlity of St. Thomas (below). The paintings were created almost 100 years apart, with the Caravaggio a century later. If there is copying going on, it is Caravaggio copying Leonardo.

In Ross King's book, Leonardo and the Last Supper, he suggests that of all the disciples, Thomas might be the disciple who would appeal most to Leonardo the inventor, the experimenter, the scientist, the engineer. Leonardo was not content with other people's answers. He wanted to know things for himself. Though we mostly remember Thomas from the Easter 2B passage in John's gospel (20:19-31), he was a member of the band of disciples who were with Jesus throughout his ministry and as such he will be shown with them. Perhaps looking at those would help give us a fuller picture of the man so many people are content to identify by a single broad adjective.

(Above, detail. Leonardo. The Last Supper. Bottom, detail. Caravaggio. The Incredulity of St. Thomas. 1601-1602. Oil on canvas. Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam, Germany. http://www.spsg.de/schloesser-gaerten/objekt/schloss-sanssouci/


A copy of Leonardo's painting, created in 1545 and showing details that are no longer readily apparent on the original, can be seen at: http://www.tongerlo.org/da_vinci/davinci_home.htm 

See what happens to Thomas when Andy Warhol gets hold of Leonardo's painting. Click on the Art&Faith Matters Facebook link.
For additional thoughts about Thomas (John 20:19-31), click here or here.
For thoughts on Acts 4:32-35, click here.