Church of the Gesu

RE : the earlier blog on the evolution of the image of the Sacred Heart (1) : I should point out, of course, that the Church of the Gesu in Rome is the mother church of the Jesuits in Rome. This famous church has provided a model and inspiration for other Jesuit churches all over the world. The painting by Batoni was commissioned by the Jesuits. Given the important role of the Society of Jesus in promoting the devotion to the Sacred Heart it is obvious that this image was to serve as the prototype for all subsequent images. Perhaps it was a copy of this painting that Teilhard would have carried with him and looked at every day of his life as a priest - as it was kept in his breviary.

The Evolution of the Image of the Sacred Heart (1): Pompeo I hardly knew ye

By now, I have grasped that an icon involves a good deal of reflection and prayer. And what strikes me as so notable about this project is that the deeper I am pulled into the Sacred Heart, the deeper I go into myself. I never thought that this would be about me, but it appears that the Sacred Heart is somehow all about me, or rather my response to the rays of light which seem to pierce my heart. For that reason, the story of the evolution of the image actually seems to begin, for me, in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff in the 1960s. I see myself there as a teenager: hungry to know more about everything. I hated school, but a loved knowing things. I loved to go to the museum whenever I could and spend hours wandering around picking up knowledge like a thieving magpie. I used to wander around the art galleries and prided myself on knowing all the paintings and their artists. In truth, I was just waiting to meet a girl who I could impress with my knowledge: but I never did. But I did fall in love with many of the women in the paintings. Every time I re-visit the galleries they are there, still as fresh and young as they have always been: whilst I inevitably age. In the past few months as I have looked at so many images of the Sacred Heart one name sticks out. It is a name I associate with a painting in Cardiff of a group portrait of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Thomas Apperley and Captain Edward Hamiliton. Sir Watkin is one of the most famous patron of the arts ever to come out of Wales. It was painted by Pompeo Batoni around 1778. ( SEE HERE ) I used to roll his name around my mouth: I could almost taste it. I did not care much for the painting, but I adored the name Pompeo Batoni. In his day he was one of the most famous artists in Rome. A few years ago there was an exhibition of his work at the National Gallery in London and I meant to go and see it, for old times sake. Little did I know at the time that Pompio Batoni and I were so well acquainted. Me and Pompeo, we go way back. His painting of the Sacred Heart is perhaps one of the most defining images of the Sacred Heart and was hung all over the place when I was growing up. It would be in homes, class rooms and church halls and given as holy pictures to reward good work. As I was rather lazy in school ( to say the least!) a holy picture of Pompeo Batoni’s Sacred Heart always eluded me. If only I had known. I could have said ‘Thank you miss: you know that is by Pompio Batoni, don’t you?’ What a chance to show off, but it is too late now.

My friend Pompeo it appears was responsible – perhaps more than anyone else – for taking the idea of the Sacred Heart, which had been represented symbolically (up to 1767) and made it into a highly anatomical baroque image. The heart thereafter is no longer a symbol as was represented in the early images that came out of the devotions promoted by St Francis de Sales, St John Eudes and St Margaret Mary ( and others) . In Pompeo Batoni’s picture for the altar of the Church of Gesu in Rome (1767) , Jesus is shown looking straight at us holding his burning, bleeding heart which is crowned by thorns and topped by a crucifix. It is this image – or something very much like it - which is behind Teilhard’s head in the picture taken in 1917 mentioned in an earlier blog. As far as I can discover, it is this picture by Batoni which was to shape the direction which the devotion to the Sacred Heart was to take in the succeeding centuries. Batoni is directing our attention to the heart as the object of the devotion. And it is the heart which is to become the focus of the devotion. The painting was completed two years after Clement XIII had given approval for a liturgical feast in honour of the Sacred Heart (1765) and several years before the devotion was approved by Pius VI ( 1794) It appears that Batoni’s work rapidly became the model or prototype for the mass produced images of the Sacred Heart which became popular in the 19th century. Variations occurred, particularly in respect of the holding of the heart. Later images show Jesus opening his gown to reveal the heart portrayed in various degrees of anatomical realism. But however you look at them, they are all, in some way on other, derived from Batoni’s vision of the Sacred Heart. When next I am in Cardiff I shall look at his portrait of Sir Watkin and friends with new eyes: but first, of course, I have to visit the girls who captured my heart when I was just sweet sixteen, well sixteen anyway.

Meanwhile, back in London

I have never been to the Holy Land, and I most probably never will! So I must admit to a certain amount of envy at the thought of Ian being there as I write this. But as I reflect on his drawings for the Church I am comforted by the fact that the icon I have commissioned and the mural in Jordan will be forever linked. Like two quantum particles mysteriously joined and connected. Whenever I look at my 'Christ Omega' I will always think of its bigger twin in Jordan. Today I received the newsletter of 'Aid to the Church in Need': ( SEE HERE )Through this icon I feel that I am spiritually connected to a place I have never heard of, to a people I do not know but with whom I share my faith. How come I never felt that before? How come I never got it? But now I feel that I am opening my heart, rather than just opening my mind to the 'Church in need' - especially in the Holy Land. With this thought I think that - as Ian is operating on a bigger scale - I should do the same. I shall write a blog which tries to put together in a more coherent way the story of the devotion to the Sacred Heart and Teilhard's place in this story. Well, at least as I see it: a theologian I am not. Essentially my big picture at this stage ( as opposed to Ian's big picture in Jordan) should be about outlining or sketching out two aspects of the Sacred Heart. Firstly, the EVOLUTION OF THE IMAGE OF THE SACRED HEART; and secondly - in terms of TEILHARD - EVOLUTION AND THE SACRED HEART. Only then will I better understand the challenge on of an image of the Sacred Heart for the 21st century. An image for the future of man, and its relationship to the images of the past.

Let the bright Seraphim!!

By the way.. since reading the blog on the Seraphim, I have been singing Handel all the time! ( Let the Bright Seraphim. ) As you paint them Ian, let this rip! Amanda Roocroft at her best. GO HERE....to HEAR


Let the bright Seraphim in burning row,
their loud, uplifted angel trumpets blow,

Let the bright Seraphim in burning row,
in burning, burning row,
their loud, uplifted angel trumpets blow,
their loud, uplifted angel trumpets blow,
their loud, their loud, uplifted angel trumpets blow.....

Full scale sketch just about finished...

This is the template which I will trace onto the ceiling of the apse. So this is full size, the figure more than life size.

Busy busy day, but...

Such a busy day ahead, but reading Ian's blog on the role of the Seraphim is just fascinating. Ian is right the deeper you go, the deeper it gets.I think is important here to point out what Pope Pius XI said about the Sacred Heart. He says it can be understand as 'Totius religionis summa.' A total summation of what being a Christian means. And the more we journey into the image of the Sacred Heart the more I grasp what he is expressing. As a total summary it really does require us to completely open our minds and hearts. When you do this, it draws you in: and heart speaks to heart. The image is a simple thing at one level, but the more one reflects and enters into this simplicity, the more does the complexity unfold. As I say that I am reminded of the fact that it is St David's day today. A special day to those of us from Wales. One of St. David's most famous sayings was : remember the little things. And a popular song which will be sung all over Wales today and which will be in the minds of Welsh people all over the world is Calon Lan'. ( My father's favourite!) The words:

Nid wy'n gofyn bywyd moethus,
Aur y byd na'i berlau man,
Gofyn rwyf am galon hapus,
Calon onest, calon lan
Chorus
Calon lan yn llawn daioni,
Tecach yw na'r lili dlos,
Does ond calon lan all ganu
Canu'r dydd a chanu'r nos
Pe dymunwn olud bydol,
Chwim adenydd iddo sydd:
Golud calon lan rinweddol
Yn dwyn bythol elw fydd
Chorus
Hwyr a bore fy nymuniad
Esgyn ar adenydd can
Ar i Dduw, er mwyn fy Ngheidwad,
Roddi imi galon lan
Chorus

And the translation:

I don't ask for a luxurious life,
The world's gold or its fine pearls,
I ask for a happy heart,
An honest heart, a pure heart.
Chorus
A pure heart full of goodness,
It is more beautiful than the lovely lily,
None but a pure heart can sing,
Sing in the day, sing in the night.
If I asked for worldly wealth,
It would swiftly go to seed;
The riches of a virtuous, pure heart
Will bear eternal profit.
Chorus
Evening and morning, my wish
Rising to heaven on the wing of song
To God, for the sake of my Saviour,
Give me a pure heart.
Chorus

How appropriate. I had forgotten that this was my Dad's favourite! Go here to hear it. And let it sound out across the Holy Land.

Evening and morning, my wish
Rising to heaven on the wing of song
To God, for the sake of my Saviour,
Give me a pure heart.

Now for... the Seraphim!

Any artistic endeavour is an interaction of many elements, among them a given space. In Liturgical Art this is particularly so, as often the art must fit to the building, the sacred space set apart as marking the spot where heaven and earth meet.

In Naour, as you can see from the previous post, the apse ceiling is a very peculiar shape, not a proper half dome but a rather flattened 'eye' shape. This isn't particularly inspiring, but we must work with what we have.

Having decided upon Christ in a round mandorla, in this context it leaves the two spaces at the corners to attend to. Given the shapes and that this is a sanctuary, where we enter into the adoration of the the angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven, my mind set upon the Seraphim who often appear in this context, not least on the 'fans' present during Orthodox worship.

Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), Basilique Assise, Legend of St Francis, Stigmatization of St Francis. Interestingly, here Christ appears in His Passion, the ultimate manifestation of Love in the cosmos, enveloped by the Seraphim.

However, I thought I ought to look a little closer at the theological description of these spiritual beings...and didn't realise just how appropriate they are for this icon of the Sacred Heart. Here I quote from Wikipedia:

"In medieval Christian theology, the Seraphim belong to the highest choir of the Christian angelic hierarchy. They are the caretakers of God's throne, continuously singing "holy, holy, holy". Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in his Celestial Hierarchy (vii), helped fix the fiery nature of seraphim in the medieval imagination. It is here that the Seraphim are described as being concerned with keeping Divinity in perfect order, and not limited to chanting thetrisagion. Taking his cue from writings in the Rabbinic tradition, the author gave an etymology for the Seraphim as "those who kindle or make hot":

"The name seraphim clearly indicates their ceaseless and eternal revolution about Divine Principles, their heat and keenness, the exuberance of their intense, perpetual, tireless activity, and their elevative and energetic assimilation of those below, kindling them and firing them to their own heat, and wholly purifying them by a burning and all-consuming flame; and by the unhidden, unquenchable, changeless, radiant and enlightening power, dispelling and destroying the shadows of darkness"^[6]

Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae offers a description of the nature of the Seraphim:

"The name 'Seraphim' does not come from charity only, but from the excess of charity, expressed by the word ardor or fire. Hence Dionysius (Coel. Hier. vii) expounds the name 'Seraphim' according to the properties of fire, containing an excess of heat. Now in fire we may consider three things.

"First, the movement which is upwards and continuous. This signifies that they are borne inflexibly towards God.

"Secondly, the active force which is 'heat,' which is not found in fire simply, but exists with a certain sharpness, as being of most penetrating action, and reaching even to the smallest things, and as it were, with superabundant fervor; whereby is signified the action of these angels, exercised powerfully upon those who are subject to them, rousing them to a like fervor, and cleansing them wholly by their heat.

"Thirdly we consider in fire the quality of clarity, or brightness; which signifies that these angels have in themselves an inextinguishable light, and that they also perfectly enlighten others."

I was quite balled over to be honest at just how intimate these beings are to the Sacred Heart. From this theological understanding we can legitimately go on to describe the Seraphim as  attendants to the Divine Furnace of the Sacred Heart, fanning its flames into an intense heat and dispersing it to the very furthest limits of the cosmos.  Just as the nature of angels is to proclaim, so the nature of the Seraphim are to disperse the Divine Fire or Light. I could write a whole treatise on this...but enough I think here to indicate that the exploration this icon is demanding is opening up more and more depths to this Mystery.