Catholic Thought discussion
How Catholic Art Saved the Faith
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Week 4: Chapters 12 - 15
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"The physical elevation of the saint takes place as he consecrates the Host. Benefial intertwines the natural world and the divine in a moment of ravishing beauty--not to be feared or distrusted but devoutly to be desired. Art allows us to live, albeit distantly, this extraordinary encounter." (p. 148)
Yes, the intertwining of the natural and divine is the perfect understanding of the Eucharist, the interfusing of the material with the divine, which what Neri's ecstasy is all about. That's absolutely brilliant,
This book is a joy and I apologize for joining the discussion late. I've long had a fondness for art history but my college art history course never touched on the idea of a Catholic Restoration, even in other words. My course was in a secular community college and required a full year of classes to earn three credits; it was fairly in- depth. So I came to Lev's book familiar with many of the artists and with the relationship between the church and art. But not at this depth or perspective.And after extolling my fondness for art, I feel compelled to mention I never realized the Sistine Chapel was built as a personal chapel for Pope Sixtus.
Regarding the chapters in focus in this week's discussion, I was intrigued by how the artists creatively tackled the idea of cooperating with grace. Here, as in many other places, Caravaggio tugs at me with his in-your-face artwork and what Lev calls his "battle to find light in ever-encroaching darkness." She notes how his use of empty space draws the viewer deep into the scene being depicted, whether accepting grace or fighting doubt (that painting comes up in the next section.)
I also was interested by the way artists kept the idea of Purgatory alive when the Reformation leaders were so fiercely opposed to it. We need more people today to pay attention to paintings like Ludovico Carracci's 'An Angel Frees the Souls of Purgatory.'
Side note: I receive a weekly email called The Angelus Project from Sister Anne Flanagan of the Daughters of St. Paul. Each week features a gorgeous work of art meant to cause us to reaffirm our belief in the Incarnation. Sr. Anne has been having some tech issues the past couple of months that cause the photos to drop off, so I'm linking to the most recent full month of photos: http://calltoprayer.blogspot.com/2021.... Definitely worth subscribing to.
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Purgatory was another Catholic teaching the Reformers objected to. Yet the “ties between the living and the souls in Purgatory had been cemented over the years. […] Everyday people had maintained ties with deceased loved ones through prayers, Masses, and practices intended to assist the “suffering souls”.”
Artwork featured:
Church of Santa Maria Scala Coeli (I could not find any depictions of the artwork mentioned)
An Angel Frees the Souls of Purgatory by Ludovico Carraci
St. Gregory Delivers the Soul of a Monk by Giovanni Battista Crespi
Part III Cooperation
The city of Rome underwent strategic urban reconstruction to better welcome visitors.
The dazzled tourist, agog at the wonders of Rome, rarely perceives that the transformation of the city into a glorious proscenium took place during the Catholic Restoration. The Church set out to engage every pilgrim, tourist, diplomat, or dissident who crossed her portals and sweep him up in a great rhetorical display that wove together the many threads of the urban fabric.This overt display of hospitality was very much in contrast to the regions that had become Protestant, as these became dogmatically quite rigid, some to the point of being despotic. The Church understood that people had questions and doubts, and what better to a man’s heart and soul than to make him welcome and put him at ease in beautiful surroundings.
Chapter 15: Doubt
If there is one thing the Protestants succeeded in, it is in seeding doubt. All of a sudden an entire world-view was turned upside down, and for the commoner without any formal education this must have been very disorienting. The Church responded beautifully in this aspect, as the Gospel gives us such poignant moments of doubt with the Apostles Peter and Thomas.
Instead of permitting doubt to create isolation among the faithful, the Church engaged with this very human phenomenon, common to believers and nonbelievers alike. The Catholic Restoration anticipated artistically what Cardinal Ratzinger would explain in words four hundred years later.
”Both the believer and the unbeliever share, each in his own way, doubt and belief. Neither can quite escape either doubt or belief; for the one, faith is present against doubt, for the other through doubt and in the form of doubt. It is the basic pattern of man’s destiny only to be allowed to find the finality of his existence in this unceasing rivalry between doubt and belief, temptation, and certainty. Perhaps in precisely this way doubt, which saves both sides from being shut up in their own worlds, could become the avenue of communication.”
Artwork featured:
Altar of the Navicella by Giovanni Lanfranco
Altar of st. Thomas the Apostle by Vincenzo Camuccini
The Incredulity of St. Thomas by Caravaggio
Beautiful work, Kerstin. Thanks so much.
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So that is when the city of Rome was reconstructed. I knew it was nothing like the ancient city but I did not know exactly when. So one can use the thumbnail of 1500-1600 as a dating for Rome as we know it today.
That's a good question about the Carracci painting, Manny. Maybe metaphorical? To represent the way Purgatory involves a cleansing process that strips - for lack of a better word, no pun intended - away every vestige of the rationalizations and excuses people use to cover up sinfulness. We're not worthy of Heaven until we're totally cleansed of sin.
Kerstin, throughout the book I was struck by how much the Reformation seeded doubt. On one page Lev mentions the flood of information and disinformation that inundated people. (Sounds so familiar with what's happening today.) It makes me realize how brilliant and far-reaching the Church's use of art and patronage of artists was, and how much good it did. Also makes me wonder whether there is patronage/cooperation between the church and artists today.
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Yes, that was my thought too. I would say it's a strong possibility as to what he intended. I'm surprised Lev didn't bring it up.
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Gerri, there is nothing new under the sun. The printing press had just been invented and printing of pamphlets and their dissemination were the rage, just like the internet today. Just like you can't verify the accuracy of anything you read on the internet, so too back then with the pamphlets. And people gobbled them up and took opinions as facts just as they do today. I think Leve made a point of this, but I can't remember if I read it in her book or somewhere else.
Kerstin wrote: "Chapter 12: Mystic UnionOn request, here is my reflection on Matthew 9: (submitted to my parish Bible Study for our Reflection prior to the lesson--I included Caravaggio's Calling of St. Matthew with the commentary):
Last year I joined an online Catholic Thought group on Goodreads, and am a frequent visitor in their General Chat room.
This past summer, we took our grandson to the Dallas Museum of Art and one of their current exhibits was an impressive painting of Martha and Mary Magdalen by Caravaggio , who painted the picture below. Someone in the Thought Group threw out a question asking us to name our favorite works of religious art. I mentioned that painting, and another member of the group, better versed in religious art than I am, brought up the painting below, The Calling of Saint Matthew. Thus began a discussion of how this artist renders the hands of his subjects to tell the story. In the Magdalen painting, the hands show Martha apparently chastising Mary for her lifestyle, while Mary's hand points to her face which suggests the beginning of remorse. Looking at the Matthew, my first impression was "Why is it so dark?" , but I believe that darkness is meant to show the room as a spiritually as well as physically dark place, and also to contrast the darkness with the ray of light which seems to be coming from behind Jesus and (I think) James or John with him on the right. The light falling on the hands and the lines pointing at Jesus and Matthew help us to see what is going on here. A line on the right of the window points to Jesus, his face in the light and his hand pointing directly at Matthew, sitting at a table with the other tax collectors, who are meant to come across as a rough group, possibly scowling at the intrusion of Jesus and the apostle. Almost parallel to Jesus's arm is Matthew's arm pointing back at himself as if to say "Who, me?"
We know the rest of this story--Matthew, incredibly, gets up and leaves with Jesus, right then, just like Peter and James and John did when the hand of Jesus pointed at them. We see that Jesus in his days on earth must have been powerfully attractive, and from our study of Acts, the disciples at Pentecost must have been gifted by the Holy Spirit with that same power which enabled them to baptize 3,000 people in their first day. But though we ourselves were given the Holy Spirit at Baptism and again at Confirmation, most of us are light years away from effectively being able to draw others to the faith we cherish so dearly.
Is Jesus pointing that finger at us, calling us to evangelize better?
Madeleine Myers
Excellent, Madeleine. (I have to apologize for my memory lapses all the time.). But your thoughts are lovely, touching.
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Lev makes the point that Matthew may be the boy with the bent head at the end of the table, not the bearded man that one would identify with what Matthew is typically represented. Why the ambiguity? Who do you think is Matthew?
"Who do you think is Matthew?"Manny, I still think he's the one pointing to himself. Caravaggio does seem to use hands to show what is going on, not just in the two I mentioned, but in other paintings of his. I think the darkness and empty space are meant to suggest the darkness and emptiness of Matthew's situation up to that moment.
And the window, hm. The source of light is up high--the light coming from a place above the darkness and emptiness of that room? From the Most High?
Three paintings inspired by the life of St. Matthew were commissioned for a chapel in the French church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. On one wall hangs The Calling of St. Matthew; opposite it is the dramatic scene of The Martyrdom of St. Matthew. Centered between them, at the altar, is the painting named The Inspiration of St. Matthew. When the paintings are seen together, the light and darkness have their intended effect, balance and complement one another. Since the same bearded man is the model for Matthew in the other two works, it is usually assumed that he is also Matthew in The Calling. But, perhaps not. Enigma, too, has a function.
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I think the bearded man is Matthew--as Frances said, he's in the other paintings, and he looks more like the mature seasoned tax collector than the young man does.
I wrestle with this one. Lev and conventional wisdom says the bearded man is Matthew. Intellectually, I understand. But upon first look at the painting, I thought the man bent over the money was Matthew. And, emotionally, my eye is drawn more to the figure seated to Matthew's left - the young man whose face is bathed in light. Perhaps he and the money-counter are representative of the rest of humanity. Some hear the word of God and some ignore it.
" It also looks to me the bearded man is not pointing to himself but to that young man."Silly thought, but couldn't resist. Maybe he's saying, "Hold my beer"?
Madeleine wrote: "" It also looks to me the bearded man is not pointing to himself but to that young man."Silly thought, but couldn't resist. Maybe he's saying, "Hold my beer"?"
That's too funny, Madeleine! I enjoyed your summary and found it very thought provoking. Thank you for sharing it with us!
Have you ever had someone point to you but you thought they meant someone else? Is Matthew wondering if Jesus is pointing at the young man who is likely far more innocent than Matthew? I ask this because I was reminded of a time in Mass where they were short an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and our pastor pointed at me to come up. I looked around assuming he was pointing at someone else because I was not an EMHC. It turned out he was pointing at me and I'm guessing it was because I had just been to confession to him the day before. But my first thought was surely he's not pointing at me because I am not worthy. Could that be St. Matthew's thought?
That’s an excellent insight, Catherine.In Chapter Nine of the Gospel of Matthew, we read that “while he was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with Jesus and his disciples. . . “ (Matthew 9:10)
Is it likely that a young man like the one depicted in The Calling of St. Matthew would have the personal contacts and material resources to own a house large enough to contain the crowd this passage implies? Maybe so. Great art is always open to new interpretations.
Manny, I have always read the young man’s posture to be a suggestion of his total absorption in the things of this world. But upon re-reading Madeleine’s message 22, I wonder if there is another reason why he sits drooping his head like that. . . ?
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If the young man is not Matthew and Matthew is the bearded man, then there has to be an alternative theme to the painting that we’re not inducing. Catherine’s suggestion is a possibility but why would the young man collapse and become the focus? That too doesn’t make sense. The only reason we seem to think the bearded man is Matthew is because of the context of the other two sibling paintings where Matthew is bearded.
Now here’s my suggestion as to what the drama in the painting is about. First the other two paintings portray Matthew at a time he is a much older man. Matthew didn’t write his Gospel until decades after Christ’s crucifixion. Obviously he wasn’t martyred until after that, so he was even older. “The Calling of Matthew” I think dramatizes a young man Matthew, and the bearded man is a symbolic projection, though obviously a different character, into Matthew’s future. The bearded man pointing is suggesting I was once him. Though we don’t get detailed ages for the apostles but it strikes me they were young men. Jesus is supposed to be thirty at the start of his ministry. Students under a teacher would tend not to be older than the Master. I don’t believe the students in the Greek academies were older than the philosopher in charge, and neither were disciples of a rabbi in Jewish tradition. It doesn’t have to be but the likelihood is that they are younger than the Master. Remember, they specifically call Jesus “rabbi” which means teacher. I'm convinced the young man is Matthew.
Well, that’s my thought. Anyone agree?
I think your reasoning is brilliant, Manny. You make a strong argument for your point of view. Even more impressive is your dedication. You care more deeply than most people do.
Manny, I love your analysis. After looking at the painting again with your analysis in mind, it's very sound and I agree with you. That Caravaggio would think to portray the heaviness that can go with being called to follow Christ is brilliant. I've read and heard many stories by priests describing their call and in some cases, that reluctance to acknowledge and respond in the affirmative. Thank you for going deeper on this.
The deepest and most profound experiences of the spiritual life, mystic union with God, was looked upon with deep skepticism by the Protestant Reformers. They preferred a more quiet pietism.
Artwork featured:
St. Francis by Federico Barocci
The Vision of St. Philip Neri by Marco Benfial
The Ecstasy of St. Teresa by Bernini
Chapter 13: Saints and their Special Relationships with Christ
Paintings featured:
The Calling of St. Matthew by Caravaggio
The Vision of St. Thomas by Santi di Tito
Noli Me Tangere by Lavinia Fontana