Art historian James Romaine presents for this Fourth Sunday in Advent the painting Christ and His Mother Studying the Scriptures (c. 1909-1910) by Henry Ossawa Tanner. Located in the collection of the Dallas Museum of Art, the oil on canvas takes for its models Tanner's wife Jessie (Virgin Mary) and son Jesse (Christ as a boy); Tanner used a photograph of his wife and son as reference. Romaine suggests that the tender family portrait leaves it to the viewer to determine whether the child is learning to read or is instructing his mother—or perhaps both.
Dr. James Romaine, Professor, Lander University; Lecturer on Faith and Visual Arts; Author*
Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art (ASCHA)
* James Romaine's most recent publication, co-edited with Phoebe Wolfskill of Indiana University, is Beholding Christ and Christianity in African American Art (Penn State University Press, August 2017). The book focuses on the biblical subjects and themes in the works of Romare Bearden, Edmonia Lewis, Archibald Motley, Henry O. Tanner, and James VanDerZee.
Also see the Advent series at The Bible Project.
* James Romaine's most recent publication, co-edited with Phoebe Wolfskill of Indiana University, is Beholding Christ and Christianity in African American Art (Penn State University Press, August 2017). The book focuses on the biblical subjects and themes in the works of Romare Bearden, Edmonia Lewis, Archibald Motley, Henry O. Tanner, and James VanDerZee.
Also see the Advent series at The Bible Project.
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1 comment:
I hope you and your family are having a wonderful holiday full of good food and good cheer.
Have a very Merry Christmas, and we wish you all the best in the New Year, too!
Ryoma.
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