Writing the Seen, Seeing the Written

John on Patmos Revelation 1:1–11 Commentaries by Harry O. Maier Works of art by Diego Velázquez, Titian and Unknown Anglo-Norman illuminator Cite Share Show Bible Passage Toggle full screen Zoom in Zoom out TITIAN AND WORKSHOP Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos, c.1553–55, Oil on canvas, 237.6 x 263 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington DC; Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1957.14.6, Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington In the Spirit on the Lord’s Day Commentary by Harry O. Maier Cite Share Show Bible Passage Read by Ben Quash Titian and his workshop (1488/1490–1576) painted St John the Evangelist on Patmos to adorn the ceiling of a lay voluntary association which gathered in the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista in Venice. We behold the instant when John ‘in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day heard a loud voice like a trumpet’ behind him, commanding him to write to the seven churches of western Asia Minor (Revelation 1:10). John is positioned on a mountain top, the biblical tradition’s cherished place for receiving divine epiphanies. The painting’s ceiling location would have magnified the verticality that the foreshortening of John’s body further intensifies. The composition situates viewers below and to the right of John so that as they look up to follow John’s vision, they behold God looking directly down not only on John but on them, along with six putti, one of them pulling the clouds open for God’s manifestation. The source of light behind God’s head heightens the aspect of divine revelation. The composition intensifies the drama of the moment through brilliant colour and atmospheric effects, and through its asymmetrical positioning of John off balance and twisting around, his red garment billowing, and his palms thrusting upward toward God’s outstretched hand. The eagle’s turned head and extended wings (lower right) lend further dynamism. The red book to the left, a Johannine iconographic symbol, is paradoxical. As though about to fall off the edge of the composition, it tells us that here is something words cannot capture. Yet, this will be the very book John writes to send to the seven churches (1:11). We encounter John in an epistemological earthquake. He will see terrifying images and exhort the seven churches to flip common sense understandings of the world on their head. John ‘in the Spirit’—that is, in worship—will learn what seeking God requires, namely, to open ears and eyes to hear and see new things. This work and the opening verses of Revelation point us to a new grammar for interpreting a world revealed through the Spirit in Scripture. We should not be surprised if, like the John we see depicted here, the Apocalypse throws us off balance. Toggle full screen Zoom in Zoom out UNKNOWN ANGLO-NORMAN ILLUMINATOR Scenes illustrating the life of Saint John, from the The Trinity Apocalypse, c.1250, Illuminated manuscript (parchment), 43.5 x 32 cm, Trinity College, Cambridge; Given by Dame Anne Sadleir, MS R.16.2, folio 2v, Trinity College, Cambridge Writing the Seen, Seeing the Written Commentary by Harry O. Maier Cite Share Show Bible Passage The Trinity Apocalypse, named after its repository at Trinity College, Cambridge, was produced in England between 1242 and 1250 for Eleanor of Provence (1223–91) who had recently arrived from France to marry King Henry III in 1236. It is one of the first and perhaps finest of Medieval English Revelation manuscripts. Its folios include a series of illuminations to accompany two columns of text. In this example, an Anglo-Norman translation of Revelation 1:1–10 (left) accompanies (right) a gloss and spiritual exegesis of it by the Benedictine Revelation commentator Berengaudus of Ferrières (840–92 CE). Above, three vividly coloured scenes illustrate the passage. At top left, John sleeps on Patmos, with wavy shores surrounded by green water. Above him, an angel stands holding a banderole inscribed with the words ‘What you see, write to seven churches’ (Revelation 1:11). ‘Here is Saint John on the island of Patmos’ is written in the white border above. In the scene to the right of this episode, we see architectural representations of the seven churches (each church’s name is inscribed above it), along with their angels. Below, at bottom left, John turns, book in hand, to see a face speaking from a cloud, instructing him to write what he sees and to send it to the churches. To the right of this, John is shown again, prostrate before Jesus, who is standing amidst seven golden lampstands, dressed in royal blue with a golden girdle around his chest. Jesus’s face is shining like gold, his eyes are red, and his feet bronzed. A sword extends from his mouth. He holds seven stars in his right hand (1:13–16). The banderole in his left is a pastiche of Revelation 1:4, 6, 8, 11, 17–19: ‘Do not doubt anything! I am the first and the last, and I lived, and was dead; and behold, I live forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of hell. Write what you have seen, and what is, and what must be done after these things’ (own translation). Revelation comes to John while sleeping, thus placing him amongst the Bible’s dreamers (Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, St Joseph). Berengaudus’s gloss offers interpretation even as illustrators turn readers into viewers. Reading, textual commentary, and visual depiction create a whole larger than the sum of its parts inviting our own interpretation and visualization of Revelation’s text; bringing its words to life.