He Wept Over It
I stumbled across a beautiful preliminary study of Jesus Christ today from the late 19th century by the Spanish painter Enrique Simonet.
The image below is a study for the larger painting Flevit super illam (Latin for He Wept Over it) which depicts Christ weeping over Jerusalem as he foretells the suffering that awaits the city (Luke 19).
He captures the deep sorrow of Jesus without excessive pathos. The emotion is almost palpable, like you could reach into the painting and with tenderness touch the face of the suffering Christ.
Simonet's initial childhood desire was to study religion but he abandoned that to devote himself to painting. However, his early devotion to Jesus Christ is translated into this moving piece of art. Simonet captures the humanity of Christ by depicting him sharing in the suffering of this broken world.
Without a doubt, the final work Flevit super illam is a monumental work, with Simonet traveling to the Holy Land to see the original setting for the Gospel passage, and yet the study of Jesus Christ holds an intimate quality that is very compelling.
Flevit super illam - Enrique Simonet 1892
In the end, I wonder if Simonet's change of vocation from religious study to art was not really much of a heart change, just a different avenue of expression. His legacy of capturing the tender heart of Christ for broken and suffering humanity has transcended the years in a way that a parochial ministry have may never done.
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