New film contemplates 12 masterpieces depicting ‘mystery of Christ’ at National Gallery

The forthcoming film Christ Contemplated explores 12 masterpiece paintings depicting Christ at the National Gallery in the heart of the UK capital.

Presented by Fr Marcus Holden and the art historian Teresa Lane, in the film the duo investigate how the greatest artists have depicted the Lord Jesus Christ. Together, they interrogate what the great masters of the paint brush such as Caravaggio have to say about the central figure portrayed: Christ.

“ I have long been fascinated by sacred art and have seen through experience how it helps people understand Christian teaching and theology,” says Fr Marcus, Episcopal Vicar for Evangelisation and Catechesis in the Archdiocese of Southwark, and also a parish priest at St Bede’s, Clapham Park, and Dean of Lambeth.

Teresa Lane is an Associate Lecturer at The Courtauld, a major public gallery and an internationally renowned centre for the teaching and research of art history, who specialises in Medieval art, with interests in the depiction of the divine and the interrelationships between image and text. Her research spans manuscripts, sculpture, wall and panel painting and goldsmiths’ work, with a focus on the role of images and objects in religious devotion. She is also a guest lecturer at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Noting that the National Gallery has “one of the world’s finest collections of religious art”, Fr Marcus highlights how the 12 paintings featured in the film are drawn from different eras and places to provide a broader geographical and historical perceptive. Each selected painting, he notes, reveals “a unique facet of the mystery of Christ”.

One of the paintings featured in the film is Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus, which depicts a setting on the evening of Easter Sunday.

As Fr Hugh Kennedy explained in a previous article, the event of that meal was preceded by two disciples fleeing Jerusalem in fear, broken by the trauma of witnessing the violence of Christ’s crucifixion. Along the way, they meet a stranger who listens as they pour out their sorrow. As the evening draws near, they press him to join them for supper.

During the meal, the stranger blesses and breaks the bread. The stranger is Christ himself. Caravaggio’s painting portrays the moment when the disciples recognise the risen Christ’s presence as he breaks the bread. One of the disciples is shown with outstretched arms, amazed by this revelation and reminded of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Fr Hugh notes how the disciple’s hand is depicted in a way that seems to invade the viewer’s space, bringing us into the scene and making the unfolding action more vivid and real. At the same time, the other disciple grasps the chair to rise in astonishment at what he is witnessing.

The reactions of the two disciples frame the youthful, beardless figure of Christ as he serenely extends his hand in blessing over the broken bread and, Fr Hugh notes, also out to us, whom Caravaggio invites closer as observers of the scene.

As Christ blesses the broken bread, Fr Hugh explains, so his presence in the Eucharist enters into the frailty and brokenness of the life experience of all his followers.

There is much to be learned and gained from these devout renditions of the Lord’s life, as Fr Hugh makes clear. And evidently some Catholic priests seem to know a thing or two about great art, which they are able to pass on for the benefit of others, especially when bolstered by working with lay experts.

Fr Marcus helped set up St. Anthony Communications, which specialises in Catholic presentations in various visual and audio formats, and which is behind the film. Christ Contemplated was launched in London on 13 May 2024.

Photo: Screenshot from the film’s trailer showing Fr Marcus Holden at the National Gallery.

The trailer for the film “Christ Contemplated At the National Gallery, London” can be watched here.