The Ark and The Dove

Abstract art

One of Jimmy Akin's co-bloggers (Tim Jones) has started an interesting discussion about the value of abstract visual art.  I want to throw something out there because I think I have if not a good answer, at least the start of a good answer (aside from Yay for abstract art because I like it! and Boo for abstract art because I hate it!).

The question is, is non-objective art (e.g. abstract paintings, sculpture, etc. that depict no recognizable subject) capable of substantive communication?  My answer is yes, conceivably, but not to any large extent in our culture at this time, and not in the near future either.  My reasoning is in the extended post.

Last Supper seating arrangements

I have often heard Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting criticized on the grounds that everyone is sitting all on one side of the table.  The typical assumption is that he did this so the picture would look better due to not having to portray anyone with his back towards the viewer.  It may be so that the picture is better that way, but the fallacy behind this assumption is the prior assumption that the Last Supper was conducted at a modern Western-style table.  Actually, if you are going to criticize it on historical grounds, a more accurate criticism should be that they are sitting in chairs when the Bible indicates that they reclined, i.e. were lying down.  Lying on one's side at the dinner table, though it may seem odd to us, is a typical ancient Greek/Middle Eastern custom.  It is still practiced, I understand, today in the Middle East - I went to a Turkish tea house once where guests had the option to sit at Western-style tables or to recline Eastern-style.

In ancient Greek culture, including the Hellenized culture of New Testament Israel, one ate dinner reclining on a "triklinion" (or triclinium, if you prefer Latin), a set of three low couches placed either around three sides of a low rectangular table or around one side of a broad horseshoe-shaped table - the setup was designed with the idea that that way servants would be best able to bring dishes and wait on people with a minimum of inconvenience to the guests.  St. John indicates that our Lord sat in the place of the host (ha! He's the host!), with the Twelve to His right and to His left.  So regardless of the precise shape of the table, Jesus and the Twelve were all basically facing the same direction.

Hell: The Musical

Msgr. Marco Frisina, a Vatican composer, is staging a "non-traditional opera" based on the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri.  The first part, based on Inferno, of course, is set to start rehearsals within the next few weeks, after which it will premier at the Vatican.

Reports suggest heaven will be full of classical style melodies, the limbo of purgatory will be illustrated with Gregorian Chant, with hell full of more jarring music.

Frisina said the use of rock music to describe the devil's den was not a value judgment on the genre but that rock's "violent and rebellious tones" help create "a hellish atmosphere".

Most of the lyrics will come word-for-word from the poem.  Excellent.

Shakespeare in Washington

"To be or not to be may be the world's most famous question - but for six months the only place to be is DC" proclaims the Washington Shakespeare Festival website.  As it says, the festival lasts for six months, so we won't miss out even if we don't act tomorrow, or even next month, or even before the end of the semester.  Here is the calendar of events for January.  Anyone interested in going to one of these?

Shrine Dome

So who's been in the Shrine lately and seen the new Redemption Dome mosaic (click the link and scroll down)?  I like it.  It has a text from Revelation, which is awesome, because Revelation is awesome, and a depiction of four big Redemption events, including the Harrowing of Hell, if I'm not mistaken.  Going counterclockwise from 3:00 in the picture in the link is the Crucifixion, the Harrowing of Hell, the Resurrection, and something.  The trouble is, I'm not smart enough that what the something is is immediately obvious to me.  Does anyone know?  It looks kind of like angels ministering to Jesus after the Temptation in the Desert.  But not really.  Is it supposed to be before the Crucifixion or after the Resurrection?  It's all the more confusing why there are glacier-looking things in the background.  If someone can tell me what I'm missing (or speculate on it), I'd appreciate it.