Sister Wendy's Bible Treasury by Wendy Beckett

Author:Wendy Beckett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SPCK

Elijah Taken Up in a Chariot of Fire, by Giuseppe Angeli (c.1712–1798)

This is a strange and mysterious incident, one very difficult to depict through the material medium of paint. One could legitimately say this was a mystical event: obviously chariots and horses of fire do not belong to the literal world. All that an artist can do, it seems to me, is to evoke our creative imagination, so that we can enter in to the immensity of Elisha’s experience and its spiritual meaning. I think Angeli makes a good stab at this. We see the drab figure of Elisha, opening wide his arms, both in farewell and in longing. He needs to be transfigured and revitalized by the fearless ardour of his great master Elijah. Elijah, for his part, has left the disappointments of the world and is set wholly on the beautiful fulfilment of heaven. He is tense and expectant as he reclines amidst the flames, flames that he understands are a visual expression of God’s love and power. He is taken from his earthly vocation and yet fulfils it in a heavenly fashion, through his surrogate the willing Elisha.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.