The Word

There are a lot of fish in the Bible.  And as it happens, fish also pop up in artworks. Indeed, some of the very earliest Christian objects show this subject.  In this episode, Joost and Michelle set out why artists have been so inspired by creatures of the deep, and make connections to scriptural passages about Tobias, Jonah, and the power and teachings of Jesus—‘ichthus’—to his followers.  Warning: this is a pun heavy episode. Joost just couldn’t reel it in.  The artworks and insights in this episode of Bible & Art Reframed can be explored in more detail on the Visual Commentary on Scripture: the internet’s premier place for Bible and Art. It houses over 1000 artworks and insightful commentary from experts around the World.    Support Bible & Art Reframed by subscribing, sharing with a friend, and leaving us a review! ________  Links to Artworks Unknown Roman artist, Glass fragment with Tobias and the Fish, c.300–99, Glass, 2.6 x 1.4 cm, The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY; Acquired 1966 from the Collection of Giorgio Sangiorgi, 66.1.204, Photo: Collection of The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY Also discussed: Unknown artist, Bowl Base with Miracle Scenes, c.350-400, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Collection, Rogers Fund, 1916.   Pieter Lastman, Jonah and the Whale, 1621, Oil on oak panel, 36 x 52.1 cm, Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf; mkp.M 193, © Kunstpalast - Walter Klein - ARTOTHEK   Simeon Ardjishetsi, Baptism of Christ, from Gospel by the painter Simeon Ardjishetsi (Simeon of Arces), 1305, Manuscript illumination, The Matenadaran, Yerevan, Armenia; MS 2744, fol. 4r, Scala / Art Resource, NY   Peter Paul Rubens, Miraculous Draught of Fishes, 1618, Oil on panel, 301 x 447 cm; central panel: 301 x 235 cm; wings: 301 x 106 cm, Church of Our Lady Across the River Dyle in Mechelen, Belgium; Jozef Sedmak / Alamy Stock Photo   Paul Thek, Fishman in Excelsis Table, 1970–71, Mixed media; ©️ The Estate of George Paul Thek; Photo: Lothar Schnepf ©️ Kolumba, Cologne  Explore additional artworks on this theme in our Curated Commentaries on Fish. _______ Hosts: Dr Michelle Fletcher and Dr Joost Joustra  Producer: Megan Jones Theme: Tim Bentley Instagram: @the_VCS TikTok: @thevcs.org YouTube: VisualCommentaryonScripture 

This episode is about relationships that go deep: the connections we can’t escape and that form our identities.  This might mean family - the Bible is full of familial relationships, whilst the Madonna and Child are the most common subject of Renaissance paintings.  And it also involves all those who have cared for us, shared with us, and helped shape us into who we are. Joost and Michelle unpick it all, using scriptural passages and five carefully chosen artworks to explore The Ties that Bind Us. The artworks and insights in this episode of Bible & Art Reframed can be explored in more detail on the Visual Commentary on Scripture: the internet’s premier place for Bible and Art. It houses over 1000 artworks and insightful commentary from experts around the World.    Support Bible & Art Reframed by subscribing, sharing with a friend, and leaving us a review! ________  Links to Artworks Barbara Hepworth, Mother and Child, 1934, Cumberland alabaster on marble base, 23 x 45.5 x 18.9 cm, Tate; Purchased with assistance from the Friends of the Tate Gallery 1993, T06676, ©️ Bowness; Image: ©️ Tate, London / Art Resource, NY  Alice Neel, The Soyer Brothers, 1973, Oil on canvas, 152.2 x 117.3 cm, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Purchase, with funds from Arthur M. Bullowa, Sydney Duffy, Stewart R. Mott and Edward Rosenthal, 74.77, ©️ The Estate of Alice Neel. Courtesy The Estate of Alice Neel and David Zwirner, Digital image ©️ Whitney Museum of American Art / Licensed by Scala / Art Resource, NY  Johannes Vermeer, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, c.1654–56, Oil on canvas, 158.50 x 141.50 cm, The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh; Presented by the sons of W A Coats in memory of their father 1927, NG 1670, © National Galleries of Scotland, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY  Simone Martini, Christ Discovered in the Temple, 1342, Tempera and gold on poplar, 49.6 x 35.1 cm, National Museums Liverpool [Walker Art Gallery]; Given by the Liverpool Royal Institution 1948, WAG 2787, Bridgeman Images  S. Jayaraj, Formation of a Prodigal Son, 2021, Mixed media, 30 x 42 cm; ©️ S. Jayaraj  Explore additional artworks on this theme in our Curated Commentaries on The Ties that Bind Us. _______ Hosts: Dr Michelle Fletcher and Dr Joost Joustra  Producer: Megan Jones Theme: Tim Bentley Instagram: @the_VCS TikTok: @thevcs.org YouTube: VisualCommentaryonScripture 

It’s not difficult to imagine how the topic of the Word might be associated with the Bible. But what about art?  In this episode of Bible & Art Reframed, Michelle and Joost show how words are often integral to works of art, from medieval manuscripts to contemporary installations. The artworks and insights in this episode of Bible & Art Reframed can be explored in more detail on the Visual Commentary on Scripture: the internet’s premier place for Bible and Art. It houses over 1000 artworks and insightful commentary from experts around the World.    Support Bible & Art Reframed by subscribing, sharing with a friend, and leaving us a review! ________  Links to Artworks Marta Minujín, The Tower of Babel, 2011, Books, steel, Plaza San Martin, Buenos Aires; destroyed 2011; Photo: Getty Images  Tracey Emin, I Fell in Love Here, 23 Feb 2014, Neon, 22.9 x 160 cm, Location currently unknown; © Tracey Emin. All rights reserved DACS / Artimage, London and ARS, NY 2018. Image courtesy Lehmann Maupin  Behnam Keryo, Calligraphy in Aramaic script recounting Jonah's preaching to Nineveh, 2006, Ink on paper (?), 300 x 420 mm, The British Museum, London; 2013,6026.2, ©️ Family of Behnam Keryo; Photo: ©️ The Trustees of the British Museum / Art Resource, NY  Unknown artist, Illuminated initial V depicting the Vocation of Jeremiah, from Dover Bible, vol. I (Bibliorum Pars I), 12th century, Manuscript illumination, Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge; MS 003, fol. 195r, Courtesy of The Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge  T'oros Ṙoslin, The Sick and the Possessed, from the T'oros Roslin Gospels, 1262, Illuminated manuscript, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; W.539, fol. 40r, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore / CC0 1.0  Explore additional artworks on this theme in our Curated Commentaries on The Word. _______ Hosts: Dr Michelle Fletcher and Dr Joost Joustra  Producer: Megan Jones Theme: Tim Bentley Instagram: @the_VCS TikTok: @thevcs.org YouTube: VisualCommentaryonScripture 

In this episode, Michelle and Joost have chosen five abstract works of art to help uncover the essence of difficult concepts in the Bible.  And crucially, listeners can enjoy hearing Joost and Michelle try to describe what’s happening in each of them.  The artworks and insights in this episode of Bible & Art Reframed can be explored in more detail on the Visual Commentary on Scripture: the internet’s premier place for Bible and Art. It houses over 1000 artworks and insightful commentary from experts around the World.    Support Bible & Art Reframed by subscribing, sharing with a friend, and leaving us a review! ________  Links to Artworks Paul Nash, The Division of the Light from the Darkness, Illustration III, in the book Genesis from the Bible (Soho, London: The Nonesuch Press), 1924, Wood engraving on Zanders hand-made laid paper, Image: 113 x 87 mm, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated Books, Gift of John Flather and Jacqueline Roose, 2001.45.1.3, Image courtesy the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco  Mona Hatoum, Impenetrable, 2009, Steel and Nylon monofilament, 300 x 300 x 300 cm, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Purchased with funds contributed by the Collections Council and the International Director's Council, with additional funds from Ann Ames, Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian, and Marcio Fainzilber, 2012, 2012.10, © Mona Hatoum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Photo: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation / Art Resource, NY  Sam Gilliam, April 4, 1969, Acrylic on canvas, 279.4 x 456.6 cm, Smithsonian American Art Museum; Museum purchase, 1973.115, © Sam Gilliam; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC / Art Resource, NY  Clyfford Still, PH-235 (1944-N-No. 1), 1944, Oil on canvas, 268 x 234.9 cm, Clyfford Still Museum, Denver; 1.2011.570, © 2019 City & County of Denver, Courtesy Clyfford Still Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York  Mark Rothko, Interior view of the Rothko Chapel: Northwest, North triptych, and Northeast paintings, 1965–66, Oil on canvas, Houston, Texas; © Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Rothko Chapel, Houston, TX. Photo by Hickey-Robertson  Explore additional artworks on this theme in our Curated Commentaries on Abstract Imagining. _______ Hosts: Dr Michelle Fletcher and Dr Joost Joustra  Producer: Megan Jones Theme: Tim Bentley Instagram: @the_VCS TikTok: @thevcs.org YouTube: VisualCommentaryonScripture 

What does it mean to be human? How do we paint our own nature, and question our own image? Self-Portraiture may not be a topic you instinctively connect with the Bible. But in this episode of Bible & Art Reframed, Joost and Michelle make links between artists’ self portraits and questions around the divine image and what it is to be human. The artworks and insights in this episode can be explored in more detail on the Visual Commentary on Scripture: the internet’s premier place for Bible and Art. It houses over 1000 artworks and insightful commentary from experts around the World.     Support Bible & Art Reframed by subscribing, sharing with a friend, and leaving us a review! ________  Links to Artworks Antony Gormley, Event Horizon, 2007, 27 fibreglass and 4 cast iron figures, 189 x 53 x 29 cm, Installation view, Hayward Gallery, London  Ghislaine Howard, Pregnant Self Portrait, 1984, Oil on board, 78.8 x 58.5 cm; ©️ Ghislaine Howard, Photo: Adrian Lambert  David Bailly, Vanitas Still Life with Self-Portrait, 1651, Oil on panel, 89.5 x 122 cm, Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden; S1351  Albrecht Dürer, Self Portrait in a Fur-Trimmed Robe, 1500, Oil on panel, 67.1 x 48.9 cm; 537, bpk Bildagentur / Alte Pinakothek, Bayerische, Staatsgemaeldesammlungen, Munich, Germany / Art Resource, NY  Moshe Castel, Untitled (The Crucified), c.1948, Oil on canvas, 72 x 53 cm, The Moshe Castel Museum of Art, Ma’ale Adumim; © The estate of the artist; Photo: The Moshe Castel Museum of Art / Dovrat Alpern  Explore additional artworks on this theme in our Curated Commentaries on Self-Portraiture. Hosts: Dr Michelle Fletcher and Dr Joost Joustra  Producer: Megan Jones Theme: Tim Bentley Instagram: @the_VCS TikTok: @thevcs.org YouTube: VisualCommentaryonScripture 

If you think about the Bible and wisdom, you’ll likely think of wisdom literature in the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus. But in art, things get a little more abstract. Wisdom can be personified, but art itself can also be a source of wisdom. Join Michelle and Joost as they explore the topic of Wisdom & Discernment in this episode of Bible & Art Reframed. Journey with them through five different scriptural passages and artworks, framing narratives around ancestral wisdom, personification, and life and death. The artworks and insights in this episode can be explored in more detail on the Visual Commentary on Scripture: the internet’s premier place for Bible and Art. It houses over 1000 artworks and insightful commentary from experts around the World.     Support Bible & Art Reframed by subscribing, sharing with a friend, and leaving us a review! ________  Links to Artworks Doreen Reid Nakamarra, Marrapinti, 2008, Acrylic on canvas, 122 x 153 cm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Gift of Robert Kaplan and Margaret Levi, 2017, 2017.251.2, © Estate of Doreen Reid Nakamarra, licensed by Aboriginal Artists Agency Ltd; Photography: Spike Mafford  Unknown German artist, A Scholar (King Solomon ?), from the Coburg Pentateuch, c.1390–96, Illuminated manuscript, 180/175 x 135 mm, The British Library, London; Add MS 19776, fol. 54v, © The British Library Board (Add MS 19776, fol. 54v)  Leandro Bassano, Portrait of a Widow at her Devotions, First quarter of 17th century, Oil on canvas, 105 x 89 cm, Private Collection; ART Collection / Alamy Stock Photo  Duccio, Christ Taking Leave of His Disciples, from the Maestà, 1308–11, Tempera and gold on panel, 50 x 53 cm, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena; De Agostini Picture Library / G. Nimatallah / Bridgeman Images  Unknown artist, Sophia, Wisdom of God, c.1625, Tempera and gold on panel, 61 x 65 cm, The Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton, MA; Icon Museum and Study Center, Clinton, Massachusetts USA   Explore additional artworks on this theme in our Curated Commentaries on Wisdom and Discernment. Hosts: Dr Michelle Fletcher and Dr Joost Joustra  Producer: Megan Jones Theme: Tim Bentley Instagram: @the_VCS TikTok: @thevcs.org YouTube: VisualCommentaryonScripture 

How better to open the door to our first episode of Bible & Art Reframed, than with the topic of Doorways & Thresholds? Join Michelle and Joost as they journey through five very different artworks—and their paired scriptural passages—that relate to Doorways & Thresholds. They discuss how artists have framed narratives around critical moments in life, precarity, and the constant struggle of making good decisions. The artworks and insights in this episode can be explored in more detail on the Visual Commentary on Scripture: the internet’s premier place for Bible and Art. It houses over 1000 artworks and insightful commentary from experts around the World.  Support Bible & Art Reframed by subscribing, sharing with a friend, and leaving us a review! _____ Links to Artworks John Everett Millais, Esther, 1863–65, Oil on canvas, 77.4 x 106 cm, Private Collection  Ludolf Backhuysen I, Ships in Distress off a Rocky Coast, 1667, Oil on canvas, 114.3 x 167.3 cm, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, 1985.29.1, courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington Hélio Oiticica, Penetrável PN1 (installed at Centro de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro, 2008), 1960, Oil on wood, 203 x 150 x 150 cm, Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro  Unknown artist, England, The Twenty-Four Elders Pay Homage to the Throne of God, c.1255–60, Tempera, gold leaf, coloured washes, pen and ink on parchment, 31.9 x 22.5 cm, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Ms. Ludwig III 1 (83.MC.72), fol. 4v, Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program  Gislebertus, Last Judgement, 1130–45, Stone, West tympanum, Cathedral of Saint-Lazare, Autun, France  Explore additional artworks on this theme in our Curated Commentaries on Doorways and Thresholds. Hosts: Dr Michelle Fletcher and Dr Joost Joustra  Producer: Megan Jones Theme: Tim Bentley Instagram: @the_VCS TikTok: @thevcs.org YouTube: VisualCommentaryonScripture 

There are over 300 mentions of gold in the Bible: it’s a symbol of holiness and purity, and has historical associations with power and greed. It’s also a rich source for artists to interpret and use in their work—just don’t tell Leon Battista Alberti. In this episode of Bible & Art Reframed, Joost and Michelle explore the topic of Gold through a tiny coin from the Persian Empire, a medieval manuscript (Joost’s favourite) featuring a golden calf, and a hauntingly beautiful crown from Peru. Join as they reflect on gold in the Bible, art, and its role in colonial history. The artworks and insights in this episode can be explored in more detail on the Visual Commentary on Scripture: the internet’s premier place for Bible and Art. It houses over 1000 artworks and insightful commentary from experts around the World. Support Bible & Art Reframed by subscribing, sharing with a friend, and leaving us a review! _______  Links to Artworks  Unknown artist, Ancient Greek Coin, Gold Persian Daric, Great King kneeling with bow, c.450 BCE, Gold; Hoberman / UIG / Bridgeman Images  William de Brailes, The Israelites Worship the Golden Calf, from Bible pictures by William de Brailes, c.1250, Illumination on parchment, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; MS Bible Pictures, shelf mark W.106, fol. 13r, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore  Unknown artist, Apse mosaic of the Transfiguration, 565–66, Mosaic, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai; LatitudeStock / Alamy Stock Photo  Marcos del Carpio [attrib.], Crown of Thorns, c.1760, Gold, repoussé, cast, and chased with emeralds, a topaz and other precious stones, 8.7 x 25.9 cm, Cabildo Metropolitano de Arequipa, Peru; Photo: Daniel Giannoni, Courtesy of Cabildo Metropolitano de Arequipa, Peru  Olga de Amaral, Alchemy 50 (Alquimia 50), 1987, Canvas, gesso, gold leaf, and acrylic paint, 165 x 150 cm, Tate; Presented by the artist 2016, T14879, © Olga de Amaral; Photo: © Tate, London / Art Resource, NY  Explore additional artworks on this theme in our Curated Commentaries on Gold. Hosts: Dr Michelle Fletcher and Dr Joost Joustra  Producer: Megan Jones Theme: Tim Bentley Instagram: @the_VCS TikTok: @thevcs.org YouTube: VisualCommentaryonScripture 

Bible & Art Reframed is a new podcast connecting the world of scripture with the history of art. Each episode, biblical scholar Dr Michelle Fletcher and art historian Dr Joost Joustra take a topic—gold, doorways, wisdom—and use it to journey through pairings of artworks and scriptural passages. Expect new takes, and expert reflections along the way.  If you're interested in Bible & art, and fresh connections between the two—subscribe to Bible & Art Reframed wherever you get your podcasts, or through the link in our bio. Stay tuned for the first episode, coming very soon.Hosts: Dr Michelle Fletcher and Dr Joost Joustra  Producer: Megan Jones Theme: Tim Bentley Instagram: @the_VCS TikTok: @thevcs.org YouTube: VisualCommentaryonScripture