This is an intriguingly simple painting of Jesus. It is more of a landscape than a portrait with the large looming backdrop of the great purple shadowy side of a mountain. The composition seems at first as casual as a snapshot and there are no other figures or symbols included. Vasily Polenov grew up in a wealthy, creative, intelligent family…because of this, he was curious, passionate, and hardworking in his artistic career, and had the means to travel all over Europe and the talent to win prizes and be taught by other talented people. He painted historical scenes, Biblical scenes, and landscapes, and was very interested in the ‘art’ side of realism as a colorist, rather than a social or political message, creating form, structure, and a sense of space through color. All of these influences can be seen in this painting. His study of history led him to portray Christ in more authentic Middle Eastern clothing. His time spent painting landscapes “en plein air” (not common for Russian artists at the time) informs the casual spontaneity of the composition and the real sense of atmosphere in between the figure and the mountain. And his love of color is so evident here – the mountain shadows are practically vibrating with a rainbow of oranges and purples, and Jesus’ ‘white’ clothing is actually a lively harmony of pinks, blues, and yellows.
When we consider the content of the sermon on the mount, this treatment actually makes a lot of sense. The composition places the viewer in the spot of listener in the crowd. The realism makes it feel like you are literally right there on that sunny day. And the emphasis on the natural surrounding is right in keeping with the way Jesus talked. All through His teaching He would continue to use the physical, visual setting to draw His listeners in to understand spiritual truths… “consider the lilies”… “look at the birds”… “good trees produce good fruit”… In this painting, Jesus looks like He is pointing something out in the landscape for them to look at as He teaches them. Creation itself speaks to us about God’s character and creativity, and the words of scripture crystalize the same truths creation speaks into specific words and ideas. Imagine sitting in creation, listening to Jesus (the living Word of God) speaking scripture. That’s what this painting does!
Based on Matthew 6:1-2
1 Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 He opened his mouth and taught them…
Painting found in Chelyabinsk State Museum of Fine Art, Chelyabinsk
