The Great Painters' Gospel Part 4

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Miraculous Draught of Fishes.]

Plate 49. _The Miraculous Draught of Fishes._ Raphael. 1483-1520.

EARLY GALILEAN MINISTRY.

_Schonherr, Plate 69, Hofmann, Plate 70, Max, Plate 71,_ give different interpretations of Matt. 8:16-17. An evening at Capernaum, when the words of Isaiah (53:4) began to be fulfilled, "Himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Healing the Sick.]

Plate 69. _Healing the Sick._ Karl Gottlieb Schonherr. 1824-

[Ill.u.s.tration: Healing the Sick.]

Plate 70. _Healing the Sick._ H. Hofmann. 1824-

[Ill.u.s.tration: Healing the Sick Child.]

Plate 71. _Healing the Sick Child._ Gabriel Max. 1840-

The Call of Matthew has been represented variously. (Matt. 9:9-10.)

_Pordenone, Plate 59,_ has Matthew "sitting at the place of toll."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Calling of Matthew.]

Plate 59. _Calling of Matthew._ Giovanni Pordenone. 1483-1539.

_Bida, Plate 57,_ shows Jesus "as he pa.s.sed by," and Matthew leaving his place of business to follow him.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Calling of Matthew.]

Plate 57. _Calling of Matthew._ Alexandre Bida. 1813-1895.

_Chimenti, Plate 58,_ would have us believe that Jesus entered the great khan of the city where the customs were collected, and called Matthew from thence.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Calling of Matthew.]

Place 58. _Calling of Matthew._ Jacopo Chimenti.

AT JERUSALEM AGAIN.

After these things Jesus went up to Jerusalem to a Feast of the Jews, and visited the Pool of Bethesda. There he saw a man who had been infirm for thirty-eight years. After talking with him Jesus cured him, although it was Sabbath. (John 5:1-8.)

_Van Lint, Plate 61,_ shows the man arising with his bed, verse 9.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Healing of the Impotent Man.]

Plate 61. _Healing of the Impotent Man._ Peter Van Lint.

_Bida, Plate 60,_ represents the instant when Jesus is giving the command, but before the man has grasped its meaning. Both artists suggest the pool, with its colonnade, or porches. Perhaps a subsequent event is ill.u.s.trated by _Van Dyck, Plate 62,_ for "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold thou art made whole; sin no more lest a worse thing befall thee."

(John 5:14.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Healing of the Impotent Man.]

Plate 60. _Healing of the Impotent Man._ Alexandra Bida. 1813-1895.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Talking with the Lame Man, Bethesda.]

Plate 62. _Talking with the Lame Man, Bethesda._ Van Dyck. 1599-1641.

_Dore, Plate 63,_ gives an interpretation of Matt. 12:1-8. The Pharisees are accusing the disciples of breaking the Sabbath by plucking the heads of wheat, and Jesus is excusing them. The Master seems to be saying, "Have ye not read what David did when he was an hungered, and they that were with him? ... If ye had known ye would not have condemned the guiltless. The Son of man is lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."

(Mark 2:27.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Jesus and His Disciples Going Through the Cornfield.]

Plate 63. _Jesus and His Disciples Going Through the Cornfield._ Gustave Dore. 1833-1883.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

"And seeing the mult.i.tudes, he went up into the mountain, and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them." (Matt. 5:1, 2.)

_Dore, Plate 65,_ has represented the scene as a whole. The instant might be almost any in the discourse.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Sermon on the Mount.]

Plate 65. _The Sermon on the Mount._ Gustave Dore. 1833-1883.

_Hofmann, Plate 64,_ seems to have depicted the giving of the beat.i.tudes. The poor in spirit, the mourner, the meek, those who hunger for righteousness, the pure, and the persecuted, all seem to be represented in the audience.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Sermon on the Mount.]

Plate 64. _The Sermon on the Mount._ H. Hofmann. 1824-

_Jeune, Plate 67,_ has selected the moment when Jesus says, "Consider the lilies how they grow... . If G.o.d so clothe the gra.s.s of the field, shall he not much more clothe you? ... Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness." (Matt. 6:28-33.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Consider the Lilies.]

Plate 67. _Consider the Lilies._ Henry Le Jeune. 1820.

_Bida, Plate 66,_ ill.u.s.trates one section of the Sermon on the Mount, viz.: Matt. 6:5-15. Here is the man in his inner chamber, having shut his door, praying to his Father who is in secret, and who will reward him.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Prayer in Secret.]

Plate 66. _Prayer in Secret._ Alexandra Bida. 1813-1895.

EVENTS DURING THE SECOND TOUR OF GALILEE.

_Veronese, Plate 68,_ represents the Centurion who came to Jesus at Capernaum, beseeching him to cure his servant. "I am not worthy," the Centurion is saying, "that thou shouldest come under my roof--only say the word and my servant shall be healed." (Matt. 8:8.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Centurion's Servant.]

Plate 68. _The Centurion's Servant._ Veronese. 1528-1588.

_Hofmann, Plate 72,_ has ill.u.s.trated the raising of the widow of Nain's son, as graphically as Luke has told it, in chapter 7, verses 11 to 16. "Every one was awe-struck and began praising G.o.d."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Raising the Widow's Son.]

Plate 72. _Raising the Widow's Son._ H. Hofmann. 1824-

_Veronese, Plate 73,_ gives another grand feast to his friends (compare plate 50). This time it is supposed to be in the house of Simon the Pharisee, as recorded in Luke 7:36-50. The woman, who bathed the Master's feet with tears, is in this case a beautiful and decorous person, a center of attraction.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Jesus in the House of Simon.]

Plate 73. _Jesus in the House of Simon._ Paolo Veronese. 1528-1588.

_Rubens, Plate 74,_ has been more faithful to the story as recorded.