Jane Williams: ‘The Art of Advent : a painting a day from Advent to Epiphany’

New in the Library

Our personal reading of artworks, especially the vast choice present in twenty centuries of Christian art, is a regular part of our understanding of Scripture and our life of faith. We are engaged in interpretation whether as a deliberate conscious act, or simply as a reminder of our shared inheritance in daily life. Images meet us at every turn, so how we give them priority and time becomes important.

In recent times the popularizer Sister Wendy Beckett has made a name for herself by writing short meditations on paintings. Her television series have introduced this mode of biblical interpretation to a wider audience, many of whom would not be trained in this practice, or even go to church. The Library holds several of her books.

A comparable technique has been adopted by Jane Williams in her new book ‘The Art of Advent : a painting a day from Advent to Epiphany’ (SPCK, 2018) Like Wendy, Jane moves easily from observation of salient, unexpected and even secret details in a painting to their significance in the Advent and Christmas stories, before raising questions that need asking, leaving the reader with an enlarged awareness both of the artwork and our own life. Wendy, a hermit living in Norfolk, brings to bear the experience of enclosed religious life, with its rounds of homilies and prayers. Jane, a scholar in the world, displays her scriptural, theological and historical knowledge in these readings with a considered lightness of touch. Wendy is, at times, given to quirky personal reactions. Jane’s responses are more measured but nonetheless deeply felt. Both authors have lively creative minds that enjoy the creativity before them; both offer their own insights while showing how we too can engage with artworks, for our own and others’ benefit. They are models of how we may proceed in this practice.

In the Foreword to ‘The Art of Advent’ the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, writes: “The author shows how certain paintings can help us to understand different aspects of our most holy faith, often in surprising ways. We look at how a painting by Dürer helps us to see Advent not as a time of fear, but as a season when we learn to long for God. We are prompted to reflect with wisdom and insight on our lives by the exploration of a painting by Bosch and of how the choices which we make have eternal consequences.”

-          Philip Harvey