Speaking of Violence
Christmas carols keep me from being a big humbug, and Christmas makes me think of Christianity, which makes me think of The Bible
Our local suburban arts center hosted an open house last week with a Russian Christmas theme. All the schools decorated a Christmas tree with Russian imagery, and children painted pictures of Russian dolls and such. There were cookies and balloons for the kids, and old ladies tap dancing in little red Santa’s helper dresses, admittedly fun for all ages.
Beyond the middle school artwork, there were a number of authentic Russian icons painted on canvas and wood and etched on metal. The best icon was the dark face of Jesus raised on what looked like a wooden window shutter. The name of it had something to do with not being created by human hands, like it was one of those miracle pictures that just appears on a wall or a window overnight. Like the face of the Madonna that appears on a tortilla (see Off the Map
But my second favorite icon was all about the violence. It was the head of John the Baptist on a bloody platter. There are lots of such images in the Russian Orthodox tradition. I don’t know what it is, I just think there’s a lot of power and poignance in this type of stuff. Like the image of Jesus nailed to the cross. The idea is to cringe and say, “Whoah!”
Then there was this painting, which a friend posted on The Arcadian Bookroom’s art discussion. It’s Giotto di Bondone’s fresco called Massacre of Innocents, all about what happened shortly after Jesus was born. It’s one more example of biblical gore for all to enjoy (”endure” rhymes better, but it’s really not what I wanted to say).
I may be going to hell… But I’ll go there singing Christmas songs.