Lent begins tomorrow with Ash Wednesday and as is our custom here, for forty days we'll travel the Lenten way reflecting on the paintings of a great artist. This year I'm happy about having discovered Fritz von Uhde, a German artist who lived from 1848-1911. We can scroll back over the past few weeks and find posts which introduce him to us.
But as a bit of a tease today, this painting, Cuisine à la Cheminée (Cooking with the Fireplace) might stir our interest. Fritz von Uhde didn't paint great battle scenes. He didn't paint landscapes or still life bowls of fruit or vases of flowers. He painted ordinary people going about their everyday tasks. This is called genre painting. He was criticized for this—the subject matter considered unworthy. He was also criticized for painting biblical scenes which had become rather "uncool." His style of painting is said to reflect a tension between naturalism and impressionism.
Here is a poor girl, likely having just fallen out of the bed we see in the upper right corner. I get the feeling the sun isn't even up yet. There's a machette like tool nearby she uses to chop kindling to get the morning fire going. She's got her head in the heavily blackened fireplace. She looks kind of sooty herself—unwashed hands and face. She wears the drab clothing of the poor —has the left sleeve been replaced? An iron pot sits on a stand to the left inside the fireplace (her kitchen). Does she live alone; are there others sleeping nearby?
In rural Ireland, it is said there are homes where the hearth fire has been kept alive for centuries. The fireplace being the centerpiece of family life—where the house is warmest, where food is prepared and family members gather. At night the alive embers are gathered up into a kind of pyramid, offering some heat, and in the morning they are spread out, new wood is added as fuel and the flame is revived. For centuries!
At Baptism we were each given a lighted candle—the flame taken from the Pascal (Easter) Candle. With the handing off of the light we and our families were instructed.
Receive the Light of Christ. Parents and Godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly. These children of yours have been enlightened by Christ. They are to walk always as children of the light. May they keep the flame of faith alive in their hearts and when the Lord Jesus comes again, may they go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.
Many of us have no idea where that candle went. Perhaps it burned down over the years if we kept the anniversary of our Baptism. Or maybe it was hidden away in an attic box and is now lost. But symbolically we all carry it still. Now, another Lent is here. My hope is that by reflecting on the forty paintings of Fritz von Uhde we might find nourished the Christ-flame entrusted to us.
If you scroll down to the very bottom of this Pauca Verba page you will find a simple subscription form so the paintings and their reflections will come to you via email each day. May your Lent be blessed.
