Peasant Family in an Interior by Antoine or Louis Le Nain
In 17th century France, the seeds of revolution had already begun to sprout. Most artists of the day focused on the royalty and on lavish portrayals of biblical themes. But the Le Nain brothers focused on peasants and their lives.
This focus seems quaint to us today, but at the time it was full of bullets and blades and blood, because it dared to suggest that these people were as deserving of the artist’s attention as the king and his court.
Have things really changed so much in 450 years? Much of the world is now free of its kings, at least in the classical sense. But do we really live as if every human being is as important to us as Angelina Jolie, or LeBron James, or a Tesla car?
Is all of humanity really equally united in the body of Christ, or is that body still broken?
So how do we start the revolution?
Not with violent rebellion, but by emulating these simple peasants from half a millennium ago. Look closely, and you’ll find that their table is not adorned with a French king’s golden goblets, nor even with stocks and bonds like the king of our neighborhood. Their table looks like one set by a Galilean King. What they’re relying on for their sustenance is bread and wine – the body and the blood – and nothing more.
This focus seems quaint to us today, but at the time it was full of bullets and blades and blood, because it dared to suggest that these people were as deserving of the artist’s attention as the king and his court.
Have things really changed so much in 450 years? Much of the world is now free of its kings, at least in the classical sense. But do we really live as if every human being is as important to us as Angelina Jolie, or LeBron James, or a Tesla car?
Is all of humanity really equally united in the body of Christ, or is that body still broken?
So how do we start the revolution?
Not with violent rebellion, but by emulating these simple peasants from half a millennium ago. Look closely, and you’ll find that their table is not adorned with a French king’s golden goblets, nor even with stocks and bonds like the king of our neighborhood. Their table looks like one set by a Galilean King. What they’re relying on for their sustenance is bread and wine – the body and the blood – and nothing more.
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