Beauty and Art

‘Art is the grandchild of God’

Dante’s Inferno

Today I am going to reflect on ‘beauty and art’ and the relationship between this, our hearts and our longing for an entity greater than ourselves. If we look for it we can see Beauty all around us – in creation itself. We can also see it in art, music, our imagination, a kind word between strangers, a new life, the love between two lifelong partners.

We can find these moments hard to describe – they happen in the innermost part of our hearts. For me, I find this feeling of beauty when I am in the mountains. I remember travelling into Austria by coach. From the lowlands of Bavaria the land gently rises as you enter Austria. A few times the mountain tops have been shrouded in mist and suddenly when it all goes clear you see the huge snowcapped peaks. I cannot describe the feeling – other than being intense and filling my heart. Perhaps you can think of examples too

We are drawn to all forms of art – for the beauty of its appearance or sound, and also symbolism.

The Lampedusa Cross is an example of symbolism. The cross is made from the wood which originated from a migrant boat that caught fire and sank off the small Italian island of Lampedusa in 2013. Its cargo was some 500 people seeking sanctuary in Europe. Tragically, 311 of them lost their lives.

The islanders rescued 155 people and, and without waiting for authority or funding, compassionately fed and clothed them, and buried those that had died, despite their own limited means. Local carpenter Francesco Tuccio met survivors in his church and was moved by their desperate plight. With nothing but his carpentry skills to offer them, Francesco decided to make each person a small pendant cross using wood from the wreck. These were gladly accepted as tokens of welcome and compassion, reminders of the hope of new life amid the destruction. Earlier in the year, he had made a larger cross, chalice and plate for a penitential mass on the island led by Pope Francis. I have one of these small crosses and for me it symbolises both darkness and light – sadness and hope.

An amazing story of the effects of music on our soul is contained within the fictional book - ‘Chasing Francis’ by Ian Morgan Cron.’ Following the performance of an orchestra in Rome, fictional character Liam Cutter, a musicologist and ordained priest in the Church of England held a lecture. Here some quotes:

‘I am always brought to tears when I hear a marvellous performance followed by a standing ovation he said. I feel that at the climax of our cheering we cross a boundary, and unwittingly begin applauding some other reality, a performer we know is there but who cannot be seen. We want to thank beauty itself

‘Is it possible that during this evening’s performance we unconsciously sensed someone standing behind the beautiful? Someone who is it’s source and we were moved to praise him as well….. Is there is a distinct relationship between beauty and the heart’s search for God?

The object of all great art is beauty and it makes us nostalgic for God. Whether we consider ourselves people of faith or not, art arouses in us what Pope John Paul called a universal desire for redemption

All of us are meaning seekers, we approach every painting, novel, film, symphony or ballet unconsciously hoping that it will move us one step further to answering the question of why are we here.

People living in the post-modern world however are faced with an excruciating dilemma. Their hearts long to find ultimate meaning whilst at the same time their critical minds do not believe it exists. We are homesick but have no home. So we turn to the arts and aesthetics to satisfy our thirst for the absolute. But if we want to find our true meaning in life our search cannot end there. Art or beauty is not the destination; it is a signpost pointing towards our desired destination

My hope is that throughout future encounters with music and the arts we will discover this heavenly country we have not yet visited but long to find.’[1]

This may be a fictional story, but to me it contains such truth. Does the beauty contained in art provide a pathway in our search for the divine?

I will finish with a quote from C S Lewis contained in his book the Weight of Glory

‘The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them. It was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through was a longing, for they are not the thing itself they are only the scent of a flower we have not found. the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.’[2]

[1] Ian Morgan Cron, Chasing Francis, A Pilgrim's Tale, 2011 Oasis Audio, Audible, Chapter 7

[2] CS Lewis, Weight of Glory