The Art of Seeing
the Passion of Christ
Thursday 27th April 2023
7-8pm UK time via Zoom
£10
with Mary Attwood
7-8pm UK ti
“The experience of the Mass is therefore a participation in the transcendence of life, which overcomes all bounds of space and time. It is a moment of eternity in time.”
Dr Carl Jung
Following on from Easter, this month’s Art of Seeing session will focus on one painting telling the story of the Passion of Christ. Scenes of the The Passion came to the forefront of religious art from the 1200s, at a time when both Francis of Assisi and Ibn’ Arabi, in different parts of the world, emphasised a move from the intellectual pursuit of the mystical in the head, to the heart and imagination. Images, texts and sermons encouraged the “unshackling of the imagination” and the compassionate – com patiens meaning to suffer with – response to help experience the divine presence rather than merely think about it. The fourth Lateran Council declared the transubstantiation in 1215 which further enhanced the move away from the symbolic to the actual. The wine and host no longer just represented or symbolised the blood and flesh of Christ, but actually became the blood and flesh of Christ during Mass. As Swiss psychologist, Dr Carl Jung stated, “The experience of the Mass is therefore a participation in the transcendence of life, which overcomes all bounds of space and time. It is a moment of eternity in time.” The images of Christ focused on his suffering and his humanness through the events leading up to the Crucifixion, the Crucifixion itself, and just after it. Not only did this evoke greater compassion and empathy in the viewer, but also heightened the potential of spiritual and soulful transformation through the resurrection.
To book please visit Mary Attwood’s website by clicking here
BIOGRAPHY
Mary Attwood is an art historian, author, mentor and business creative with a particular interest in the ways in which our perceptions of art can awaken us to a deeper, embodied dimension of being we have lost in our post-modern age. She is a founding member and co-director of the Centre for Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred, and co- founder and co-director of Channel McGilchrist. She holds a BA (hons) in the History of Art from London University where she followed her passion to study Italian late medieval and renaissance art and architecture, while also pursuing her interest in Eastern philosophy, qualifying as a teacher in yoga, meditation and mindfulness, and co-authoring two books published by Watkins. She holds an MA with distinction in Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred. She believes that the ways in which we engage with art can alter perceptions and consciousness and help us meet the complexities of modern living by offering a renaissance of humane and sacred values.
