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Lent 23

One of the curiosities of this particular painting is that the Via Crucis passes by a church. ‘What’s that doing there?’ you might ask. After all, Jesus hasn’t been crucified yet, let alone risen from the dead – he has followers, yes, but you couldn’t call that ‘Christianity’, not at this point. And apart fromContinue reading “Lent 23”

Lent 22

This is the Via Crucis – ‘The Way of the Cross’. So we know now, now it is confirmed (as if we didn’t know before) what the outcome will be. Jesus is carrying his own cross, with two guards, mainly out of view, pulling him on, and another behind grabbing the same grey-blue robe weContinue reading “Lent 22”

Lent 21

Two men in their shirts and pants, with one, possibly both, also wearing a waistcoat. Their legs are bare. A rope goes around the older man’s shoulders, and they are led by two guards – one with a helmet, another with a spear. We cannot see the arms of the two prisoners – maybe theirContinue reading “Lent 21”

Lent 20

There is a green hill far away,Without a city wall,Where our dear Lord was crucified,Who died to save us all. Written by Cecil Frances Alexander as one of the Hymns for Little Children in 1848, this hymn, so familiar to me from my youth, became more famous when it was included in the Appendix ofContinue reading “Lent 20”

Lent 19

Two men in their pants. It doesn’t look promising. They are clearly prisoners – both have their hands tied behind their backs, and the same rope is used for both – they are tied together. They have their backs to us: this, together with several other details, tells us to keep moving. The guard whoContinue reading “Lent 19”

Lent 18

We haven’t met this scrawny child before. We saw the boy in the improbable hat yesterday, having first seen him over a week ago (Lent 7), but this is the first time we have seen his companion, who is possibly his baby brother. As I said when we first met the elder boy, ‘one ofContinue reading “Lent 18”

Lent 17

In the words of comedian, actor and writer Arabella Weir, ‘Does my bum look big in this?’ Not only does this man bend over to give us a chance to contemplate an answer, but he also turns round to look us in the eye – indeed, he is, I suspect, one of the very fewContinue reading “Lent 17”

Lent 16

We’ve seen enough of the painting now to start meeting people again, and to put them into context – the woman weeping, and the improbable hat of the child next to her (Lent 7) can be seen in the bottom right – and now we know why she is weeping. Whoever she is – andContinue reading “Lent 16”

Lent 15

Jesus has been arrested, interrogated, tried and condemned. His hands are tied, and he is being led away. How do we know this? Well, he is wearing the crown of thorns. This follows on from the verse I quoted from the Gospel of Mark yesterday, in which he was taken to Pilate first thing onContinue reading “Lent 15”

Lent 14

The lofty arches and deep, dark recesses of the arcade tell us that we have returned to the palace we have seen before – and indeed, the long, slim staff held by the man on the left of this detail creeps into the bottom of Lent 5. This is the very palace from which theContinue reading “Lent 14”