Blog 4
Blog 4
Worship allows us to use the materiality of the senses to purposefully engage with an image as an icon rather than as an idol. In this case, an idol is something objectified. It provides entertainment but does not instigate a real relationship. It holds value in the eyes of the viewer as an image without a true representation of the image as a whole. Through the Ghent Altarpiece, the Florentine frescoes, and the Madonna altarpieces, we can engage more fully in this iconic way of seeing.
Jean-Luc Marion presents a profound argument identifying what is described as “the gaze” in order to fully enter into an image as an icon. Art is therefore more than just something pretty to look at, it calls us into themes of contemplation. It calls us to identify characteristics of beauty: play, symbol, and festival, that have been seen before. Marion explains that our senses must be cultivated in order to worship which then allows us to properly engage with an icon. This requires us to see the image as gift. In this sense, we come to recognize this through Christ. As an icon, a holy image, is glorified and adored because of the one who looks at us through the icon, God. “Christ does not offer only himself to my gaze to see and be seen, it is a love for his father that he demands I lift my eyes” (Marion 57). This means that worship through an icon is unlike a mirror or even a screen, but a way to engage in the invisible. It allows us to connect to the invisible when looking upon the icon. Furthermore, through our participation in an icon, we can place ourselves within the art and consider the mundane aspects of life must point towards something else. That something else is God. Therefore, entering into this reality we can come to recognize the self-gift of Christ. We can understand that physically, on our own, we cannot give ourselves completely. Only through Christ and worship is this possible.
The Ghent altarpiece is complex and majestic altar piece centered around the Deesis. That is, the presence of the blessed Virgin and John the Baptist with Christ at the center. In these panels, the Ghent altarpiece’s many panels invite the viewer to a more intimate form of worship with its many vibrant colors and invitation to enter into the gaze of Christ. “The Ghent altarpiece was meant to be a vivid reassertion of the validity of the Mass as a sacrifice and the reality of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist” (McNamee 117). There is a central Eucharistic theme in this altar piece that brings about the suffering, death, and sacrifice of Jesus towards salvation. As an icon, this is truly the sacrifice of the Church and the human person is reconciled not just to the Father, but also to each other and the entire Church in communion with one another. This a message that is revealed to us during Mass to celebrate Christ in a wholly sensory experience through bread and wine transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of Christ.
The Florentine Frescoes, likewise, reveal worship in a Christ-centered way but with respect to the context of the artwork. A fresco is a piece of artwork that cannot be moved around like a framed painting or an altarpiece, but rather is fixed to a particular location. This is curious for two reasons. First, the location itself points towards an invitation to pilgrimage. In this way, people are required to visit the location of the fresco and therefore participate in worship as a way to physically see one’s self in this place. Second, frescoes, like all icons depicting Christ, invite us to let them reveal themselves with us. We can use the physical senses to further identify with the spiritual. Going again back to the idea of the gaze, the Florentine Frescoes express themselves through the color, the expressions, and the location to further understand salvation and Beauty ordered towards Christ.
Lastly, the Madonna altarpieces are similar with respect to the symbolism of the Ghent altar piece, but further emphasizes the Eucharist through Mary. In these altar pieces, Mary serves as a kind of altar for the Eucharist, Jesus. She holds him close in an intimate way. She offers her bosom to Christ such that we are called to engage openly in full participation of the Eucharist. Many of these icons depict Jesus as necessarily pale which emphasizes the idea of bread as the Body of Christ. Moreover, we can see what is being offered in the Eucharist and are called to enter into this gift. We ourselves are called to become altars for Christ. These icons help us to engage ourselves towards Christ through their imagery. In this way, these depictions are not idols, but a way to glorify and adore God as He returns the gaze through the icon.