Genesis 17.1-16: Her New Name

The reading from Hebrew scripture for Lent 2B is part of the epic (Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16). In this section, God promises that Abraham will be the ancestor of multitudes of people. And then, to mark this promise, both patriarch and matriarch receive new names. Abram becomes Abraham. Sarai becomes Sarah. And the name Sarah, in Hebrew, means princess.

So it's surprising that Sarah is often shown looking more like a peasant than a princess. Granted, a royal wardrobe doesn't make much sense in an everyday nomadic life in a dusty climate. But are we so used to thinking of everyday Sarah that we forget her name may be an insight into who Sarah is. One artistic exception to "everyday Sarah" are works by James Tissot that depict the stories of Abraham and Sarah in Egypt. In his vast number of paintings of Biblical subjects, Tissot sought to create work that truly pictured the events of the Bible. He wasn't always correct. Sometimes the romanticism of it all or incomplete archaeology led him astray. But whether totally accurate or not, Tissot's images of Sarah in Egypt seem more princess-like than many others.

James Jacques Joseph Tissot. (left) The Egyptians Admire Sarai's Beauty. Watercolor and gouache. (right) Sarai is Taken to Pharaoh's Palace. 1896-1902. Watercolor and gouache. The Jewish Museum.

Sarah is dressed similarly in the two images.* She is wrapped in layers of clothing with gold bracelets up her forearms. An elaborate headdress covers all but her face. The headdress is similar in feel to the very elaborate headdress of Puabi, presumably a Sumerian queen (below). The elaborate framework and use of gold are similar. And the star-flowers on the crown of the headdress are similar shapes to elements on Sarah's waist in the "Admire" painting.

Queen Puabi's Headdress (reconstruction). University of Pennsylvania Museum. 

Puabi's grave, found in the Royal Cemetery of Ur, was discovered in 1928 by Leonard Woolley. The tombs from Ur (near the Euphrates in what is today Iraq) date between 2600-2500 BCE. In addition to the queen, two attendants were found with her in the grave. She was buried as a queen would be buried. We may usually think of Sarah more as matriarch, but we know about her burial, too. Genesis 23 tells about her death and that Abraham purchased a tomb for her. For a princess. 

*Sarah's body language and facial expression in these paintings are certainly worth considering in light of the content of the stories, but are not discussed here because the Egypt stories are not the reading for this week.

For thoughts on the gospel lesson for Lent 2B (Mark 8:31-38) click here.
For an introduction to the Tree of Abraham on the Art&Faith Matters Facebook page, click here.  

Genesis 18, 21: Unexpected Visitors

Abraham's three visitors were unexpected. They just showed up there at the camp under the oaks of Mamre. Abraham was sitting in the door of his tent in the heat of the day. So he offered food and hospitality to these unexpected visitors who turned out to be way more and promise way more than he originally thought they might (Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7, Pr 6/Ord 11/Pentecost 2, Year A).

The unexpected visitors - and the unexpected news they brought - are not so unexpected to us today. We have read the story. How, then, can we give ourselves the experience of seeing these visitors in a new light - as Abraham saw them by the end of the text. Two options are below.

In the painted Biblical scenes and stories of artist Fr. John B. Giuliani we see indigenous peoples: the people of Guatemala and Bolivia, Apache and Crow, Navajo and Choctaw. In Giuliani's The Tent at Mamre, three chiefs - Lakota, Cheyenne and Apache - are the unexpected visitors hosted by Sarah and Abraham. Abraham and Sarah are not included in the scene, but their tent (a Blackfeet buffalo tipi) provides the background for the scene. Does Giuliani's version of the story make you ask different questions? Or help you understand Abraham's surprise at these visitors who just seemed to appear?

A second "unexpected" depiction of the story is that by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. The part of the reading from Genesis 21 includes Sarah's overhearing the visitors' assertion that she and Abraham will be parents, even at their advanced age. In response to this announcement, Sarah laughs. (Remember, it is that laughter that will give Isaac his name.) Sarah's laughter is overheard, and one of the visitors confronts her.

Tiepolo has chosen that moment, and, at least for me, the appearance (and by that I mean the way the visitor looks, not that the visitor appeared) of this angel is unexpected, to say the least. From the wings that are almost as tall as the angel, to the medallion-patterned gathered and draped garment (not to mention the thigh-high slit) and the gold sandals, this angel is quite unexpected. Sarah is dressed in 17th-century fashion with her standing lace collar, which feels anachronistic in its own way. But it is the angel who steals the sartorial show. He stands outside the "tent" in the light while Sarah kneels in the shadows, her dark clothes blending into the dark wall behind her.

Abraham was sitting in the door of his tent in the heat of the day when he looked up and saw three visitors. What do unexpected visitors bring to us? What hospitality do we offer them?

Top photo: John B. Giuliani. The Tent at Mamre. To purchase cards and reproductions of this and other work: http://www.bridgebuilding.com/narr/gabr.html
Bottom photo: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. Sarah and the Angel. 1724-29. Fresco. Palazzzo Patriarcale, Udine. http://www.musdioc-tiepolo.it/musdioc/index.php?folder_id=15