December 4: The Virgin: A Locked Garden
♫ Music:
Day 4 - Wednesday, December 04
Title: The Virgin: A Locked Garden
Scripture #1: Song of Songs 4:12–16 (NKJV)
A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits, fragrant henna with spikenard, spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices—a fountain of gardens,
a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind, and come, O south! Blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its pleasant fruits.
Scripture #2: Song of Songs 2:1 (NKJV)
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
Poetry:
“Pomegranates”
by Shim Hum translated by Graeme Wilson
It rained last night. The pomegranates,
Red and orange-red,
Have all burst open into flower.
Not to be comforted,
I sit in this cool pavilion
Set in a lotus lake
And under its glass-bead curtains wait
For my closed heart to break.
THE LOCKED GARDEN
A prevailing relational image of God in the Old Testament, alongside the parental “Father,” is that of “Lover” (Philip Yancey uses the phrase “Jilted Lover” to describe a common relational image that emerges in the prophets). As Adam and Eve rejected their cool-of-the evening intimacy with God in the Garden of Eden, they were (and we are) cursed with broken relationships on all sides. Humans spurned God’s loving embrace. Shockingly, God then pursues his lost, unfaithful lovers across the pages of the Old Testament. This relentless pursuit, in which God will go to any length to redeem, purify, and reclaim his beloved, embodies itself in the Incarnation. The Holy Spirit is now at work in the world through the power of Christ, calling and purifying His Bride, the church. All of this will culminate in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The pursuit of the Lover is the central drama of the Bible.
The Annunciation, an uncanny microcosm of this drama, and a scene almost unbelievably layered with symbolic meaning, became a core subject within the canon of Christian art. As depictions of the Annunciation developed over time, the garden became a common setting. Through the depiction of Gabriel and Mary in elaborate, walled garden spaces, artists created visual theological commentary. These images collapse Eden, the “locked garden” image from the Song of Solomon, and Gabriel’s announcement to Mary into dense pictures. Mary is the “garden enclosed,” a reference to her virginity, and now her womb will become the enclosed garden where God will take on flesh, and grow in the natural, intimate, dependent way each human must. Mary is stunningly receptive to the Lover, reversing the pattern of unfaithfulness and the rejection of God which has broken Shalom.
The two works provided for reflection today were created in differing styles in the late 15th century. Each presents the Annunciation occurring in a garden setting. The Altarpiece of the Dominicans presents the scene in an intimate garden surrounded by medieval castle walls. As viewers we are also separated from the space by a wall in the foreground. We peer over this fortification to view a scene full of wonders and medieval symbolism. This painting depicts the Annunciation as a supernatural event, full of exotic imagery.
Da Vinci’s Annunciation moves the event out of medieval space and closer to our world, as Gabriel interrupts Mary’s reading in an environment that suggests a palace garden. Fully utilizing the advances of linear perspective, combined with his mastery of oil paint, Da Vinci creates a deep atmospheric space complete with mountains in the distance. Rather than being fortified against the outside world, this garden seems to extend outward infinitely to the horizon, spilling outward over its low walls. The Incarnation will not only be for Mary. Emerging from her womb, love and salvation will fill the whole earth.
I confess, it is often more comfortable (if less comforting) to think about God, and even Jesus, in more remote, authoritarian terms. As a painter I ponder God as Creator often. Understanding Him as Lover is more challenging. His longing, His jealousy, His relentless pursuit, are mostly too much for my own heart to hold. When He came to Mary, she gave all in response––all she had kept safe and sacred––that which was most precious. My own response should be no less.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, as we move together through Advent.
Reveal yourself anew as the Lover who comes to us gently
Bringing everlasting delight.
Holy Spirit, claim all that is most precious to us.
Make in us something beautiful, something new.
Amen.
Jonathan Puls, M.F.A., M.A.
Chair of the Art Department
Associate Professor of Art History and Painting
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork #1:
Altarpiece of the Dominicans: The Mystical Hunt
Martin Schongauer
c. 1480
Oil on pine
116 x 116 cm. (each panel)
Musée d' Unterlinden
Colmar, France
Public domain
Although the involvement of artist Martin Schongauer in this work has long been a matter of contention, today most scholars agree that this work can be ascribed to him and his workshop.The two panels here represent the annunciation, which the artist has set in a lush outdoor garden enclosed by walls, a tower, and a locked oak door. In the midst of this hidden garden are beautiful plants and flowers, and a white lily, a symbol of purity and fidelity, blossoms. In the right panel, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is accompanied by a unicorn. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, unicorns were believed to be wild woodland creatures, symbols of purity and grace, which only could be seen by a virgin. In the left panel the archangel Gabriel is portrayed as a hunter, blowing his horn and proclaiming his message to Mary that she would conceive and bear the Son of God.
https://thevcs.org/garden-earthly-and-heavenly-delights#blessed-fruit-thy-wombhttps://www.musee-unterlinden.com/en/oeuvres/altarpiece-of-the-dominicans/
About the Artist #1:
Martin Schongauer (c. 1450–1491) was an Alsatian engraver and painter. He was the most important printmaker north of the Alps before Albrecht Durer, a younger artist who collected his work. Schongauer is the first German painter to be a significant engraver, although he seems to have had a family background and training in goldsmithing. The bulk of Schongauer's surviving production is one hundred sixteen engravings, which were well-known not only in Germany, but also in Italy, England, and Spain. Historian Vasari says that Michelangelo copied one of his engravings, the Trial of Saint Anthony. Schongauer’s style shows no trace of Italian influence, but a very clear and organized Gothic influence, which draws from both German and early Netherlandish painting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Schongauer
About the Artwork #2:
The Annunciation
Leonardo Da Vinci
c. 1472–1476
Oil and tempera on wood
98 × 217 cm.
Uffizi Museum of Art
Florence, Italy
Public domain
A flourishing enclosed garden, in front of a Renaissance palace, alludes to the purity of Mary. Archangel Gabriel kneels before the Virgin, proffering a lily. The Virgin responds from her dignified seat, behind a lectern, at which she was reading. The traditional religious theme has been set by Da Vinci in an earthly, natural setting. The angel has a solid corporeality, suggested by his shadow on the grass and the folds of his clothing, which would seem to show studies from real life. His wings too are based on those of a mighty bird of prey. An extraordinary crepuscular light shapes the forms, brings the scene together, and emphasizes the dark tree shapes in the distant background, dominated by the blended colors much loved by the artist. The architectural features are drawn according to the rules of perspective, with a central vanishing point. Some anomalies can be found in the figure of the Virgin, whose right arm appears too long—perhaps a reflection of Da Vinci’s early research into optics, which would have taken into account a lateral viewpoint (from the right)—and lowered, due to the original location of the painting, over a side altar in a church. The painting was brought to the Uffizi in 1867 from the church of San Bartolomeo a Monteoliveto in Florence; nothing is known about its original location or who commissioned it. The Annunciation is generally considered to be one of Da Vinci’s youthful works, painted when he was still working in the studio of renown artist Andrea del Verrocchio.
https://www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/annunciation
About the Artist #2:
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, military engineer, and draftsman who studied music, anatomy, geology, botany, and cartography. He is considered the epitome of the “Renaissance man,” known for his paintings and his inventions. He has been called the father of paleontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter, and tank, he epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Among his artworks, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and The Last Supper is the most reproduced religious painting of all time. His artworks, together with his notebooks, which contain drawings, scientific diagrams, and his thoughts on the nature of painting, comprise an incomparable contribution to later generations of artists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci
https://www.biography.com/artist/leonardo-da-vinci
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/leon/hd_leon.htm
About the Music:
“There Is No Rose of Such Virtue” from the album If On a Winter’s Night
Lyrics:
There is no rose of such virtue
As is the rose that bare Jesu; (x2)
For in this rose contained was
Heaven and earth in little space;
Alleluia, Alleluia
There is no rose of such virtue
As is the rose that bare Jesu;
By that rose we may well see
That He is God in persons three,
Alleluia, Alleluia
There is no rose of such virtue
As is the rose that bare Jesu;
The angels sungen the shepherds to
Gloria in excelsis Deo:
Alleluia, Alleluia
There is no rose of such virtue
As is the rose that bare Jesu;
Alleluia, Alleluia (x2)
About the Performer:
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (b. 1951), known professionally by his stage name Sting, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, activist, actor, and philanthropist. For Christmas 2009, Sting released If On A Winter’s Night, a deeply moving collection of seasonal favorites. In the album notes Sting states, “I appreciate the beauty of these stories and how they have inspired musicians and poets for many centuries. It was my desire to treat these themes with reverence and respect, and despite my personal agnosticism, the sacred symbolism of the church's art still exerts a powerful influence over me. In the medieval lexicon the rose was a symbol of flawless perfection and became associated with both Christ and his mother Mary. Two songs in this collection have this as a central metaphor, both based on a verse from Isaiah ("And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of its roots"): 'Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming', a 15th-century German carol, harmonized by Praetorius a century later, and 'There Is No Rose of Such Virtue', an English carol from the same period. While the metaphor of the rose is clearly medieval, it appears to carry a faint echo of the nature spirits of the pre-Christian era. While this would undoubtedly have been an unconscious link, the syncretic nature of symbolism is both subtle and persistent. In selecting the songs here, I was drawn to many of the beautiful lullabies from both secular and religious traditions - indeed, all of the songs on the album are lullabies of a kind - and I became intrigued by their dual nature, for lullabies seem to be designed not only to soothe but also to unsettle the listener.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sting_(musician)
https://www.biography.com/musician/sting
About the Poetry & Poet: Sin Hum translated by Graeme Wilson
Shim Hum (1901-1936) was a Korean writer, poet, and dramatist born in Seoul to a family with a long history of government service. His opposition to Japanese dominion over Korea and participation in protests led to his imprisonment and later a period of exile in China. Following his return to Korea in 1923, Hum worked as a journalist while also working privately on fiction. His most famous novel, Sangnoksu, was published in 1935. Its success brought Hum greater popularity and, capitalizing on the momentum of its acclaim, he encouraged the educated class of Korea to organize against Japanese imperialism. He died of typhoid fever at the age of thirty-five.
https://mypoeticside.com/poets/sim-hun-poems#block-bio
About the Devotion Author:
Jonathan Puls, M.F.A., M.A.
Chair of the Art Department
Associate Professor of Art History and Painting
Biola University
Jonathan Puls (M.F.A., M.A.) is a family man, a painter, and a teacher. He serves Biola University as a Professor of Art and as Chair of the Department of Art. Jonathan actively pursues creative work of many kinds and enjoys supporting other artists in their art and faith journeys.