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| Presentation Colored pencil on tinted paper |
Artist Statement: This image is the most recent in the cycle of works I have undertaken to portray the various Major and Lesser Feasts and Fasts of the Church Calendar. It reflects the moment (Luke 2:22-38) in which the elderly Simeon holds the Christ Child in his hands and realizes in an epiphany that his life-purpose (and promise) is accomplished. This is a moment of Epiphany of Emmanuel — the Presence of the Holy One in their midst. The aged Widow-Prophet Anna daughter of Phanuel looks on, as does the young Mother, Mary. Even though this is an early part of the beginning of the Christian story, especially for Jesus and Mary, for the elders it is a moment of culmination, the realization of something long hoped for. It is a moment of healing for the two elders, but for the others there is a promise of future wounds. I have tried to capture the sense of deep satisfaction in Simeon's expression, while Anna is startled and amazed and overjoyed. Mary smiles gently and thoughtfully as she stores this moment in her heart, with the promise of future pain. And the Christ Child? I leave that for the one viewing the image to contemplate, one more witness to this Epiphany. Bio: Tobias Stanislas retired from full-time parish ministry after 16 years as Vicar at St James Fordham (Bronx NY). He now lives in Baltimore and is serving long-term supply at Church of the Advent, Federal Hill. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Saint Gregory, and a Commander of the Order of St John. An iconographer, visual artist (and past ECVA curator), and author; his most recent publication, Re-Membering God: Human Hope and Divine Desire (Church Publishing 2019) includes chapters on art, music, and architecture as human articulations of this quest. |
~ HOLY PRESENCE ~ |
Margaret Amada 1 2 |
Posey Krakowsky 1 |
