14×14 acrylic and mixed media on canvas
This is a painting version of artwork I did on some sermon notes a year or two ago. It combines imagery and symbolism from throughout scripture leading up to Christ’s death and resurrection.
The cross morphs into the tree in the garden at the Fall of man. There is a pomegranate representing the fruit, and two seeds representing both blood drops as well as Adam and Eve both eating the fruit. The reason the cross becomes the tree is from the “cursed is everyone who hangs from a tree”
The bow on the cross represents God’s wrath. When God hung the rainbow in the sky after the flood, He said he was hanging his bow in the sky to represent his wrath was over. This would be a warrior’s bow. I have it hanging from one of the nails in the cross with Christ’s blood running down into the red to represent Christ’s taking God’s wrath for our sins and bringing us salvation.
A lot of depictions of Jesus tend to be whitewashed and sanitized. I wanted to show how horrible his ordeal would have been. Bruised, swollen, and cut up from being scourged, beaten, falling to his knees while carrying the cross, and then crowned with thorns and nailed to a cross where he had to hand for hours. I wanted him to have darker skin and hair, and have more of a build of someone who did manual labor (carpentry, fishing) and walked around everywhere. And body hair…why is it you hardly ever see Christ with body hair. He was a dude and his people are not known for being hairless. Basically I wanted a more faithful (within reason) depiction of Christ’s sacrifice and what he went through for us.
The serpent climbing up the cross represents God telling Satan “you shall bruise his heel, but he shall crush your head” in the garden at the fall. His presence in the cross symbolizes him seeking to have Christ killed to thwart God’s plan but it ultimately being his undoing because that was precisely how Gods plan was accomplished and Christ didn’t stay dead, as he resurrected 3 days later.
And lastly, the empty tomb in the garden at dawn, because the story didn’t end with a man dying a brutal death. It ended with God resurrecting him on the third day and Christ later ascending to sit again at the right hand of God’s throne.
I added lettered studs with the title, metal brads for the nails (also on the bow) and added some brass wire accents on a couple of the trees.
Project Images
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