I assumed too much. I just figured, that since there was a proliferation of Jesus’ images throughout history, it must be all right to follow suit. Boy, did I have a rude awakening. Once I did some further investigation, I found out there is good reason to believe that any representation of Jesus, no matter how broadly rendered, be it in two or three dimensions, has difficulty (my opinion too) getting around the second commandant of not making images and or likenesses of deity. I get more specific about my reasons in the next painting “Don’t Depict Deity.”
I apologize for some of my older paintings that reflect a detailed face (but most assuredly not the real Jesus’ face). I’ll think twice in the future before contemplating another attempt at Christian deity depiction.
The much distorted head image atop His shadow (cast from Christ the Redeemer statue) gives emphasis by exaggeration to His unbelievable torture He suffered during His crucifixion. Yes, you may also interpret the broad (mostly red) painting strokes over His body as representing, not only Rio’s downtown skyscrapers, but also as/the “stripes” inflicted upon Jesus’ body during that crucifixion by which we are healed. And, in case you missed it, that’s a rough, stylized human body image (suggesting Jesus of course) beginning to exit the rock blocked tomb entrance.
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