Viewing all items in Resource Category: God in the Arts

Those words of the 18th century poet Christopher Smart remind us how faith and music have always gone hand in hand, faith inspiring the music and music expressing the faith. In this series we shall consider 12 pieces of music inspired by the Christian faith, beginning from its roots in the Old Testament. Among the...

During this year we have been exploring how art can celebrate the wonder of this world. This month with our Lady and Jesus we stand above the world: high on the clouds with a glorious path of tall, elegant lilies that lead like a stairway to the earth beneath. This is ‘The Virgin of the...

Each month we have explored how art celebrates the wonder of our world – the seasons, the elements, animals and fish, flowers and fruit. They manifest the glory of God the creator. Irenaeus, the 2nd century theologian, went further and wrote that ‘the glory of God is a living person.’ He was echoing Psalm 8:...

The weekday eucharist in a parish church, with only a handful of worshippers present, can be a great contrast to the bustle and liveliness of Sunday services. It can offer you a quiet time to focus on the gifts of bread and wine offered on the altar. This month’s painting of 1633 is an opportunity...

In this month of September, we give thanks for God’s blessings in all that the earth yields us. Those blessings are focused in this wonderful painting of Jan Davidsz de Heem. He was born in Utrecht in Holland in 1606 and studied art under his father’s guidance.  De Heem then moved to Antwerp, where for...

A few years ago, I was sponsored by the Mothers’ Union in my diocese to go ‘swimming with sharks’ at the Blue Planet Aquarium near Chester. The prospect seemed daunting, but it proved to be a magical, memorable experience. When I went down into the water, it was like entering a new world – somehow...

‘What is this life, if full of care, we have no time to stand and stare?’ Those words of W H Davies provide the theme for this year. The paintings chosen celebrate creation in all its wonder and diversity, and we are encouraged to take time to look anew and so become aware of the...

In 1833 Mendelssohn composed two overtures inspired by the sea. ‘Fingal’s Cave’ portrays the gentle roll of the waves and the call of the wind on the waters around Staffa. ‘Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage’ paints a sea journey when the fog lifts, the sky clears, the safety of land beckons and the boat arrives...

Each year as we look at Creation we see the cycle of the seasons. The earth comes alive in spring, blossoms and bears fruit in summer, gives up its goodness and glory in autumn, and seems to die in the sleep of cold winter. Each of those seasons has its moods and feelings, which we...

In the 17th century the name Arcadia evoked an earthly paradise that was celebrated in art and literature as an idyllic place of peace and harmony where humanity and nature were at one. To live in such beautiful surroundings was to find heaven on earth. We often have that feeling when we are out in...

Each month we are exploring a painting that celebrates the glory and wonder of creation. In this month of March the world around us is moving from the cold and harshness of winter to new birth as the earth comes to life again in the season of spring. It is the theme of ‘Primavera’ by...

Editor:  The copyright on this picture is now in the ‘Fair Use’ domain at Wikiart.org. If you use the graphic, please add the following credit: https://www.wikiart.org/en/stanley-spencer/christ-in-the-wilderness-the-scorpion  ** ** At the end of this month we enter the season of Lent: those 40 days when we follow Jesus into the wilderness and prepare ourselves to celebrate His...