Angels by Gianlorenzo Bernini
The
Sant’Angelo bridge in Rome is lined on both sides by ten angels sculpted by Gianlorenzo Bernini. Though
they’re carved in stone, the clouds and their robes are churned by a turbulent
wind: God’s fervor is passionately aroused.
What is it that stirs the winds of heaven? One angel carries the flagellum with which Jesus was whipped; another carries the whipping post. There’s a cross, a crown of thorns, three nails…each angel carries an implement of his torture and suffering.
And yet these devices are borne not as some dreadful burden, but amazingly, as the most precious treasures. When we face these startling images, the Holy Spirit moves within us. We’re confronted by a Love so amazing that the greatest sacrifice ever offered could be seen as “good” by Him who buys our redemption with it.
Honestly, you’d think the bridge would be mobbed with sobbing pilgrims, the angels are so evocative.
But in reality, the tourists wandering beneath the angels often miss them because they’re too interested in the souvenir trinkets and knockoff purses sold on blankets below by black market scammers.
What is it that stirs the winds of heaven? One angel carries the flagellum with which Jesus was whipped; another carries the whipping post. There’s a cross, a crown of thorns, three nails…each angel carries an implement of his torture and suffering.
And yet these devices are borne not as some dreadful burden, but amazingly, as the most precious treasures. When we face these startling images, the Holy Spirit moves within us. We’re confronted by a Love so amazing that the greatest sacrifice ever offered could be seen as “good” by Him who buys our redemption with it.
Honestly, you’d think the bridge would be mobbed with sobbing pilgrims, the angels are so evocative.
But in reality, the tourists wandering beneath the angels often miss them because they’re too interested in the souvenir trinkets and knockoff purses sold on blankets below by black market scammers.
I
suppose, though, that it was also like that 2000 years ago. Jesus of Nazareth was tortured, and most of
the earth went about its business oblivious to the crime. Even in Jerusalem,
I suspect most neighborhoods echoed with the cacophony of daily life while heaven
held its breath.
Nor is the bridge in Rome unique even today. Christ is still everywhere reviled and humiliated, and we watch reruns of The Brady Bunch. Miracles fall like rain around us as we reach for the box of Twinkies. The Son of God is murdered, and, well… who cares?
Look at Bernini’s angels. They’ll tell you Who cares.
Nor is the bridge in Rome unique even today. Christ is still everywhere reviled and humiliated, and we watch reruns of The Brady Bunch. Miracles fall like rain around us as we reach for the box of Twinkies. The Son of God is murdered, and, well… who cares?
Look at Bernini’s angels. They’ll tell you Who cares.
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Want to know more about how God speaks to us through visual art?
Check out Art to Heart: Encounters with God in the world's great art
Check out Art to Heart: Encounters with God in the world's great art