This painting is titled: Christ Blessing (The Saviour of the World) or Christ as Saviour. I have even seen it called simply, The Saviour. It was painted by Domenikos Theotokopoulos who is nicknamed El Greco - "The Greek." El Greco was born in 1541 in what is now Crete, then part of the Republic of Venice, known as the Center of Post-Byzantine Art. It is said that El Greco received his earliest training as an icon painter. We can detect that in the posture and gaze of Jesus, the position of his blessing hand and even the triangular, instead of circular, nimbus.
Considered a later work, this Christ was painted in 1612, shortly before El Greco's death in Toledo, Spain in 1614. Because his style was so expressive, unique and new, it has been difficult, if not impossible, to categorize. Infact, he was bitterly rejected. Doesn't this often happen with people who introduce a new idea or concept in any field: theology, art, music, even science. It wasn't until the 20th century that El Greco came to be truly valued.
What strikes me at once is that there is no gold background, only the deepest darkness. Symbolic of heavenly light, icons are always created with a golden background. But El Greco's Christ seems to be stepping out of the darkness; HE IS THE LIGHT, symbolized by the artist's abundant use of white. We might remember the account of the Jesus' Transfiguration where his clothes became "whiter than any bleacher could make them." (Mt 17:1-8, Mk 9:2-8, Lk 9:28-36). Christ radiates Divine Light. Perhaps the black background images the dark night of our existence: our celebrating the daily record-breaking stock market while the poor don't benefit in any way; children without food security or health insurance; parents whose work doesn't supply a living wage while there's always money for space exploration and the "military industrial complex" (President Eisenhower's phrase); that within a few years the plastic in the ocean will outweigh the fish! Or does the black background image our charred forests, the war-charred people, the charred truth!
O Christ our Saviour shed your light upon the path I have to tread, that I may keep it without stumbling and without faltering, and come in the end to see you face to face in the heavenly kingdom. Amen.
Jesus covers a crystal globe with his left hand — our world. It is a protective, wing-like covering. With his right hand, moving from thumb to smallest finger, he forms the Greek letters IC XC — the abbreviation for Jesus Christ. While that right hand of Jesus is raised, I am reminded of a young person in class raising his/her hand to ask a question. Does he want to ask our world (you? me?) a question? But a hand can go up into the air, even hesitantly, for fear that someone might deem the question foolish. Could El Greco's Christ be apprehensive, fearing our rejection? Maybe Christ would ask us: "Why can't you (especially men) stop killing each other?" Or perhaps Jesus, looking intently into our eyes, doesn't want to ask a question but seeks to get our attention, so to wake us up out of our global torpidity; our national comma.
Mutual love is the Master's new commandment, the distinguishing mark of the disciple, the principle work to be achieved by all human existence." Teilhard de Chardin
