Sacred Art for the Season

 Last Christmas Eve, Rick and I enjoyed a remarkable art experience when we visited St. John the Evangelist Church in Jackson, Michigan, a small city about 30 miles away from Lansing. It was a temptation to write about it immediately, but the art itself was better fitted to explain during Holy Week, so I held off on this post till now.

 

Christmas Eve was the official "opening" of a magnificent mural at the church's altar. It's enormous -- 32 feet tall and 21 feet wide and was created by local artist Joseph Macklin. Father Chas Canoy told us that it took a year to complete. Jackson is part of Lansing's Archdiocese and its St. John the Evangelist is its oldest church, built in the 1850s and Gothic in style. The mural is a perfect addition, with the style of art and the painting's subject matter fitting the setting.

 

There is so much to see, it's hard to take it all in. (It helped having Father Canoy as our guide!) One sees the saints (those included were selected by parishioners and include Francis of Assisi, Pope John Paul XXII and John the Baptist.) The selected saints represent all nationalities and races, male and female.

 

Some, such as Mother Theresa, are relatively contemporary. 

 

The largest part of the mural focuses on the Paschal Mystery. Viewers can follow the journey to Jerusalem of Palm Sunday, the Last Supper and of  the crucifixion.  

 

The setting of this section is local, showing buildings from Jackson (such as the City Hall) and different churches, such as St. Mary Cathedral in Lansing. We see Jesus riding a donkey as he did through Jerusalem but on the streets of Jackson. The upper room is depicted as one in St. Mary Cathedral. We also see him carry his cross, crowned by thorns and praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.

 

As an art history minor, I was interested in how the painting style emulated those of some of the Renaissance masters, incorporating what was modern at the times with the Biblical features. For example, even the parish priest, Father Canoy, is pictured, much as Raphael pictured himself, Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and others in his "School of Athens." Seeing this reminded me of some of the churches we saw in Europe and the art of the great masters of the Renaissance.

The details are exquisite.

But so, too, is the depth of emotional feeling and detail captured by Macklin in this chronology of Holy week events. 

Here is a video of the artist, showing him at work and talking about his inspiration for the project, showing far better details than any of the photos here.

Here'e a different one, from a news program.

 

Macklin is a working artist from Jackson who does much liturgical art, with works in several area facilities in Lansing, along with an altarpiece for his alma mater, Jackson Lumen Christi high school. He clearly mastered his craft with this piece.

 

Wishing those who celebrate Easter and Passover this season all things bright and beautiful.

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