December 9: You Are Altogether Beautiful
♫ Music:
Day 9 - Monday, December 09
Title: You Are Altogether Beautiful
Scripture #1: Song of Songs 4:1 (NIV)
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are doves. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from the hills of Gilead.
Scripture #2: Psalm 139:13–16 (NKJV)
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.
Poetry:
“Sonnet 106: When in the Chronicle of Wasted Time”
by William Shakespeare
When in the chronicle of wasted time
I see descriptions of the fairest wights,
And beauty making beautiful old rhyme
In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights,
Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty's best,
Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow,
I see their antique pen would have express'd
Even such a beauty as you master now.
So all their praises are but prophecies
Of this our time, all you prefiguring;
And, for they look'd but with divining eyes,
They had not skill enough your worth to sing:
For we, which now behold these present days,
Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.
YOU ARE ALL TOGETHER BEAUTIFUL
The Portrait of Madeleine drew strong reactions in the year 1800, when Marie-Guillemine Benoist presented it to the public in the Salon of Paris. It is remarkable both for its artist and for its subject. Benoist broke with tradition as a French woman who formally studied art. A student of the famous artist Jacques-Louis David, Benoist was well-regarded until Napoleon’s defeat in 1814, after which she was forced to quit painting because of a conservative swing in French culture.
The Portrait of Madeleine shocked its audience in a second way by featuring a black subject—only the second portrait to have done so in France, and the first of a black woman. To effectively render black skin was considered especially difficult. Slavery had recently been outlawed in the French colonies, and Benoist’s portrait elevated black women. The full portrait depicts Madeleine with the gauzy white dress of the elite falling from her shoulders to expose her right breast. This exposure heightened the juxtaposition of worlds—the exploitation of the enslaved with the dignity of wealthy portraiture. Does the bare-breasted woman signify her former status as slave? Or does it anticipate the more famous painting by Delacroix of the bare-breasted Liberty Leading the People after the revolution of 1830? Either way, as a woman who had herself crossed conventional boundaries, Benoist understood the power of paradox and honored the dignity of her subject.
The Song of Songs invites us to consider how human desire obliterates conventional social boundaries. Madeleine is an ideal focal point for our reflections because the woman in the Song announces that her skin is “black and lovely” from laboring in the vineyard under the hot middle eastern sun (1:5-6, NRSV). If she had been wealthy, she could have shaded herself on the veranda while servants tended to the vines.
Her lover, who she describes as “fair” and “radiant,” reminds her of King Solomon. He consistently praises her beauty, her sun-kissed skin makes her all the more entrancing. Although he has far more sophisticated ways of saying it, he would be pleased to sing, “You are so beautiful to me.” He has eyes only for her. Her neck is like a strong tower, her mouth lovely, her breasts like fawns. Indeed, he insists, “there is no flaw in you” (4:7).
The language of love, expressed and re-expressed by lovers through the millennia, cannot be bound by walls with locked gates. The ardor of mutual desire grows stronger when thwarted. So, too, the long yearning for union with Christ, stretching across the centuries, challenged by trials, but nourished by glimpses of his presence. The biblical storyline repeatedly celebrates the undying love of our Savior for his church. We labor in the fields as we await his return. He sees us and pursues us as the one his soul loves. Until our final reunion we cherish every sighting of the one to whom all earthly and earthy loves ultimately point.
Prayer:
Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord.
Amen
–––Book of Common Prayer [2019], 124
Dr. Carmen Joy Imes
Associate Professor of Old Testament
Talbot School of Theology
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:
Portrait of Madeleine
Marie-Guillemine Benoist
1800
Oil on canvas
81 x 65 cm.
Louvre
Paris, France
Public domain
Portrait of Madeleine, also known as Portrait of a Black Woman is a painting by the French artist Marie-Guillemine Benoist. It was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1800, was acquired by Louis XVIII for the French state in 1818, and remains in the collection of the Louvre. The subject matter—a woman of color—was unusual at the time. Its enigmatic presentation has prompted much speculation about the artist's motivation and intentions, with recent interpretations focusing on ideas of slavery, race, gender, class, and their interactions. Madeleine was a servant, yet is depicted in a wealthy aristocratic milieu—wearing jewelry and sitting on an expensive chair. Most paintings of the period that include Black women show them as servants to white women—whereas here Madeleine sits alone. The simple white clothes have a neoclassical air, similar to contemporary portraits done by French artist Jacques-Louis David. If you watched the opening ceremonies of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, there was a large reproduction of the Portrait of Madeleine featured as one of the heads floating in the Seine River.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Madeleine
https://smarthistory.org/benoist-portrait/
About the Artist:
Marie-Guillemine Benoist (1768–1826) was a French neoclassical, historical, and genre painter. Her training as an artist began in 1781 and later she entered well-known artist Jacques-Louis David's atelier in 1786 along with her sister. Her work tended increasingly toward historical painting by 1795. In 1800, Benoist exhibited Portrait of Madeleine in the Salon. Six years previously, slavery had been abolished, and this image became a symbol for women's emancipation and Black people's rights. James Smalls, a professor of art history at the University of Maryland, declared that "the painting is an anomaly because it presents a black person as the sole aestheticized subject and object of a work of art." She also opened a workshop for the artistic training of women.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie-Guillemine_Benoist
About the Music:
“You Are So Beautiful to Me” from the album GEMS
Lyrics:
You are so beautiful
To me.
You are so beautiful
To me.
Can't you see
You're everything I hoped for
You're everything I need.
You are so beautiful
To me.
You are so beautiful
To me.
You are so beautiful
To me.
Can't you see
You're everything I hoped for
Everything I need.
You are so beautiful
To me.
About Composers/Lyricists: Billy Preston and Bruce Carleton Fisher
Billy Preston (William Everett Preston) (1946–2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R & B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing such acts as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, the Everly Brothers, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. He gained attention as a solo artist with hit singles including "That's the Way God Planned It," the Grammy-winning "Outa-Space," "Will It Go Round in Circles,” "Space Race,” "Nothing from Nothing,” and "With You I'm Born Again.” Additionally, Preston co-wrote "You Are So Beautiful,” which became a hit for singer Joe Cocker. Preston is the only musician to be given a credit on a Beatles recording, which was done at the band's request––the group's 1969 single "Get Back" was credited as "The Beatles with Billy Preston.” Preston was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence Award category in 2021.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Preston
Bruce Fisher (b. 1954) is an American songwriter, record producer, and playwright best known for his collaborations with Billy Preston. Fisher's best-known songs include "You Are So Beautiful,” "Will It Go Round in Circles,” and "Nothing from Nothing,” all co-written with Preston before 1973. He also played and performed with the Blackbyrds, David Williams, Leon Ware, Wah Wah Watson, Ernie Watts, the late Richard Tee, and Bernard Purdie throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In recent years, as a managing member at Speak of the Devil LLC, Theatre Productions, Fisher has been producing a play that he wrote entitled "Hear No Evil,” starring Tony Award nominee Keith David and directed by Tony nominee Obba Babatunde, with musical direction by Harold Wheeler.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Fisher
About the Performer:
Michael Bolton (b. 1953) is an American singer and songwriter. Bolton performed in the hard rock and heavy metal music genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, both on his early solo albums and those he recorded as the frontman of the band Blackjack. His early career also saw him as a successful songwriter, co-writing hits like "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" for Laura Branigan. Bolton achieved peak recognition as a pop ballad singer in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During that time, he covered such songs as Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" and Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman." In later years, he ventured into various other media, including television and film, often appearing as himself. Bolton has sold more than seventy-five million records, and recorded eight top ten albums and two number-one singles on the Billboard charts, as well as winning six American Music Awards and two Grammy Awards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Bolton
https://michaelbolton.com/
About the Poetry & Poet:
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was an English poet, playwright, and actor widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon.” His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately thirty-nine plays, one hundred fifty-four sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Published in 1609, the Sonnets were the last of Shakespeare's nondramatic works to be printed. Scholars are not certain when each of the sonnets was composed, but evidence suggests that Shakespeare wrote sonnets throughout his career for a private readership.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare
About the Devotion Author:
Dr. Carmen Joy Imes
Associate Professor of Old Testament
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
Carmen is in her fourth year at Biola University, where she loves helping students fall in love with the Old Testament Scriptures. She is the author of Being God’s Image: Why Creation Still Matters and Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters. She had no idea she’d become a YouTuber when she grew up!