Is there a visual language to Sacred Scripture? Some passages of the Bible have become inextricably entwined with certain visual representations. Who can read of Saul’s encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus without thinking of Caravaggio's Conversion of Saint Paul? Who can hear a homily that touches on the Tower of Babel without recalling Bruegel’s famous paintings? And who can hear the words “This is my body” without visualizing Leonardo’s Last Supper? Certainly not I.
While we may honor these famous images, there is something to be said for iconoclasts, which have become an endangered species in our visually saturated world. Instead of fostering one’s imagination through prayer and deep scriptural reading, many Christians rely on visual interpretations such as The Chosen or Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ to place themselves in a Gospel scene. Many of the images that we are presented with today serve as a distraction from who should be the center of our attention: Christ as he is revealed in Sacred Scripture.
But we should beware of false dichotomies. For many people, visual art can be an especially helpful tool in their journey to encounter God through prayer or Scripture. The excess of visuals in our technologically ridden world and our seeming addiction to commodity images does not mean that we should dispense with all representation. It does, however, mean that we need a process of curation and a guiding hand through the inordinate amount of images at our disposal. Luckily for us, King's College London has undertaken this daunting project through the Visual Commentary on Scripture (VCS).
Directed by Ben Quash, Professor of Christianity and the Arts at King's College London, the VCS is a free online resource. It pairs passages from Scripture with a litany of artwork from all manner of styles and time periods. Thoughtful commentary details the reasoning behind the pairings, illuminating our understanding of Scripture. Sometimes the image depicts the passage in question, but other times the pairing is not so obvious. For instance, Francisco de Goya’s The Dog is paired with Matthew 14:22–33 (and Mark 6:45–52; John 6:16–21), when Christ walks on water. The description clarifies that, whatever the artist’s intention, the dog captures Peter’s—and our—distraught faithlessness; the dog’s head looks upward as if drowning, yearning for salvation.
Likewise, Mark Rothko’s Orange and Red on Red is paired with Matthew 18:6–9 and Mark 9:42–48, as it helps the reader visualize Christ’s famous description of hell as the place “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” I find these less obvious visual pairings to be the most illuminating and interesting.
The VCS has also produced a series of excellent videos that delve more deeply into the scriptural passages. I came to the VCS by way of a video conversation between Quash and the German film director Wim Wenders. In the interview, Wenders talks about a photograph he took in the Holy Land in 2000, titled The Road to Emmaus, and explains how it illuminates the passage relating to Christ’s appearance after his death and resurrection. The interview made the story come alive in a new way, but also granted me a new appreciation for Wenders’s filmography and work, which I always thought was biblically informed.
Catholics especially may be wary of biblical exegesis that comes from outside the Church or an academic institution (although these days, “academic” is more of a liability). There is, however, much to value here. Christians need to make the most of the technology that allows us to access and distribute these resources. The recently released Word On Fire Bible includes beautifully printed artwork alongside the text. The VCS goes much further, offering commentary along with the images.
The great artists of Christianity have always understood that the visual is not merely illustrative; it guides the soul upward, assisting it in contemplation and meditation. Just as the high walls in St. Peter's Basilica turn our gaze toward heaven, and the music of the great organ of Notre Dame lifts up our spirit toward God, so too do the best of the visual arts assist us in entering more fully into fellowship with Christ through the Scriptures. Appreciation of artistic representation of Scripture has been relegated to a dry and academic analysis for far too long. Resources like the VCS will accord icons their rightful and necessary role as paths toward the divine.
Germán Saucedo is a junior fellow at First Things.
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