PENTECOST 2006 SPECIAL EDITION

ISSUE 7 - ISSN 1448 - 6326

EMMAUS REFLECTION

LINDSAY FARRELL

This reflection is a response to a picture text of the story of Emmaus.  Last year I spent time with this picture in the National Gallery London. It is a picture of a meal which happens as part of a meeting. For me, it is about encounter, recognition and transformation.

Two of Jesus' disciples were meeting with a stranger. At supper '... he took bread, and blessed it, broke it and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight' (Luke 24: 30-31). In the picture Christ is shown at the moment of blessing the bread and revealing his identity to the disciples.

Caravaggio’s innovative treatment of the subject makes this one of his most powerful works. The depiction of Christ is unusual in that he is boyish and beardless. In this picture we also see that Caravaggio emphasizes the still life balancing on the table. The intensity of the emotions of Christ's disciples and the servant is conveyed by their gestures and expression. Caravaggio pictures Cleopas about to leap from his chair. We also see James with the pilgrim shell on his cloak. James’ hands are extended in amazement.  Cleopas and James see something that we don’t. What do they see what we can’t?

The light falling from the top left of the picture illuminates the scene. This device captures the moment of recognition but in the picture the light is more than merely illumination. The light models objects, making them visible to the eye but also becomes the way in which we see who the stranger really is. The picture reminds me of three things.

First, Caravaggio portrays everyday objects on the table. We see beautifully painted glasses, crockery, bread, fruit, poultry and vine leaves. If you were asked to paint this scene would you bother including the ordinary stuff on the table? The gospel text only mentions bread…Why does Caravaggio include every-day stuff? All that ordinary stuff may seem unimportant to the central message. But Caravaggio thought it was important to include the ordinary. This aspect of this painting reminds me that as Heads of Schools we can encounter the risen Christ in the ordinary daily stuff of life.

Second, why does Caravaggio include a servant with a jug? If we were to be true to the biblical text, should there be only three people in the picture?  Caravaggio imagines a fourth, a servant who is attentive to his guests. The inclusion of the servant in this picture reminds me of servant-hood. I recall many faculty who have served me. I am reminded how Jesus himself came as the servant king, not to be served by to serve.

Third, the central figure in the picture is a youthful, longhaired chubby stranger. Caravaggio models one of the stranger’s hands on Michelangelo’s last judgment Christ. The strangers’ other hand is raised in blessing. What do most people miss seeing in this painting? Recent cleaning of this picture has made it possible to see what the picture has been hidden for centuries. Light and shadow make it possible for us to see who the stranger is. As one looks closely on the white table cloth you see dark shadow and then a point of light that comes though an open hole in the stranger’s hand. The stranger is none other than the risen Lord who had his hands pierced. The moment of recognition takes Cleopas and James to the sacred scared hands. Jesus "took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him."

 

Author:

LINDSAY FARRELL is resident artist, senior lecturer and Head of the School of Arts and Sciences at McAuley Campus, Australian Catholic University.

Email: l.farrell@mcauley.acu.edu.au

 

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