Most christian artwork I see is uninteresting and
repetative. It's the same thing over and over: illustrations of the empty cross, or a text-dominated piece backed by literal interpretation of the passage. The worst is
bumper sticker theology.
The thing I want to see in visual art is
visual. I don't want to look at a piece and spend five minutes reading text. I want to look at a piece and see a passage visually come to life.
I've been searching for artwork that meets this criteria. Some of my favorites are...
Job and His Friends by Ilya Repin. 1869.
Job is my (middle) namesake, hence the interest in this painting. But I like the tension that Repin creates by the distance between Job and his friends, wife, and even the dog. Job's a broken man, but some how he's holding on to his faith in God.
Fight Between Jacob and the Angel by Eugene Delacroix. 1850-61.
I like this mural, because it shows lots of motion in the struggle between Jacob and the Angel. I like this story, because Jacob wrestled the Angel and demanded a blessing. He didn't ask politely. It was an all night wrestling match.
