Scripture, Faith, and Art
Dear Friends,
I hope you found our journey through the book of Judges with Janet Tollington interesting. Janet’s love of the Old Testament is something she willingly shares with us and we’re grateful for the time and effort she put into producing that series.
For the next week we are going to be looking at Scripture, Faith, and Art with the Revd Neil Thorogood who, from July, will be the Assembly Moderator. Neil writes:
“E.H Gombrich first published his monumental The Story of Art in 1950. It quickly became a classic textbook on art history. He was, for 17 years, a professor of classical art at the University of London and his book primarily explores the western traditions of visual art. My copy is of the sixteenth edition, revised and published in 1995. It’s a book that has inspired and captivated many key artists. Bridget Riley remembers it was “the first history of art I read as a 19-year-old art student. It was a revelation and I could not put it down. It pushed open the door on some of the greatest achievements of the human spirit.” And this is Antony Gormley, “I read [it] at school at the age of 15 with curiosity and growing compulsion. It planted in me a feeling of the centrality of art in human experience.”
So, plenty to praise and celebrate. Gombrich himself acknowledges that no one book can cover everything. But one of the critiques reveals a staggering absence and silence. The first edition includes no women artists at all; my sixteenth includes only one! It was in response to this absence and silencing that art historian Katy Hessel published The Story of Art Without Men in 2022.
“This week’s series of Daily Devotions takes a lead from Hessel. Together, we will reflect upon artworks created by women starting with one in 2019, ending with one in 1568. With each, we will explore how art can open scripture and speak to faith. And, as we do, we might also wonder which other voices are silenced, and whose stories never get told.”
I hope you enjoy the series.
With every good wish
Andy
The Rev’d Andy Braunston
Minister for Digital Worship