with love, jesus christ

April, the month associated with Easter and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
For some, it’s 420.
For me? A reminder of my happy life living in pure sin.

There’s so many Biblical inspired artworks in the world, such as The creation of Adam (1510) by Michelangelo (1475-1564), David and Goliath by Tiziano Vecellio and the most famous of them all The last supper (1495-1498) by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519).

Out of all the biblical paintings that exist, my two favourites are by Italian painter Caravaggio (1571-1610) and Danish painter Carl Bloch (1834-1890).

The taking of Christ, Caravaggio (1602)

So dark and intense like a bottle of soy sauce. Salty like Judas’ jealous ass and as rich as his betrayal towards Jesus.
Caravaggio did an amazing job with the details in Jesus’ face and showing us the moment of realization that he had been betrayed by someone he considered a friend.

My favourite painting by Caravaggio.
More artworks by Caravaggio.

The mocking of Christ, Carl Bloch (1880)

Now this is a damn masterpiece! Not much going on, only Jesus and a soldier. But it’s all in the expressions.
You can feel the pain from the crown of thorns on the forehead and the blood drip.
One can also, unfortunately, smell the hot breath and unwashed mouth of the soldier and hear the mocking words coming out of that damn thing.
The way Jesus looks at us, the viewer, makes me want to jump in to the painting and assure him that it was never his fault. I want to apologize to him for what he’s going through and tell him that it will all be over soon.
My favourite painting by Carl Bloch.
More paintings by Carl Bloch.

Other artworks that I’ve written about: Lover of art
Hugues Merle
Keith Haring
The fallen angel
A warm welcoming
Portrait of a black woman