Sunday, January 17, 2016

There Was A Wedding At Cana In Galilee

Giuseppe Maria Crespi, Marriage Feast At Cana
Italian, c. 1686
Chicago, Art Institute
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
“They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her,
“Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servers,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,
“Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
“Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.
John 2:1-11 (Gospel Reading for January 17, 2016, Year C Cycle)

Agostino Ciampelli, Marriage Feast At Cana
Italian, c. 1600
Paris, Musée du Louvre
, Departement des arts graphique

The Church’s Christmas Season came to an official end last Sunday with celebration of the Baptism of the Lord.  This week in the readings for Cycle C (2015-16 liturgical year) we begin reading about the public ministry of Jesus, which begins with this miracle, performed at one of life’s most ordinary events , a wedding feast, performed, perhaps prematurely, at the behest of Mary, His mother.  

Jan Steen, Marriage Feast At Cana
Dutch, 1665-1670
Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland


Theologically, the account is loaded with multiple layers from which we can examine it:  there is the element of an epiphany, in which Jesus’ power is revealed; there is the change of the element of water into a choice wine which forecasts the greater change of bread and wine into Body and Blood; there is the presence of the Second Person of the Trinity which imparts of blessing to the human event of a wedding leading to the recognition of marriage as a sacrament; there is the role of  Mary in gently nudging Him to be who He is and her trusting prompt to the servers “Do whatever He tells you”, knowing that her observation will be acted upon.  

All of these possible threads and others besides have been expounded on by preachers and theologians for centuries.  But what of artists?  How have their works imagined this miraculous event?

Early images, say from the Carolingian period through the early Renaissance, often depicted the miracle at Cana as part of a series of images that appear within the same frame. 
  
Psalter (Hours of Guiluys de Boisleux)
French (Artois), c. 1246-1260
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS 730, fol. 13r

Since this is the first miracle of Jesus recorded anywhere in the Gospels and a third type of ephiphany it frequently appears with the Presentation of Jesus, the Flight Into Egypt, the boy Jesus in the Temple or His baptism by John the Baptist.  

Book of Hours
German (Franconia), c. 1204-1219
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M739, fol. 20v

Troparium-Prosarium-Graduale St. Salvatoris of Prüm
German (
Prüm), c. 986-1001
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 9448, fol. 26v

Sacramentary of St. Stephan of Limoges
French (Limoges, St-Martial), 11th-12th Century
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 9438, fol. 24r

Psalter
English (Oxford), c. 1200-1220
London, British Library
MS Royal 1 D X, fol. 3v


Psalter
French (Paris), c. 1200-1225
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 1392, fol. 3r

However, this is not always true.  Others combine the miracle at Cana with another scene or scenes from the later life of Christ, including:

Other miracles  

Historien Bibel
German (Swabia), c. 1375-1400
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M268, fol. 27r




Other scenes from the life of Christ 

In the two images shown below, the scene of Cana is combined with the scene of the overturning of the tables of the money changer in the Temple, an event from a much later period in the life of Jesus.

Bible historiale of Guiard des Moulins
French (St.-Omer), 14th Century
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 152, fol. 385


Attributed to Hand B of the Munich Psalter
English (Oxford), c. 1200-1225
London, British Library
MS Arundel 157, fol. 6v


Old Testament precedents  

Gold Scrolls Group, Typologische tagerelen uit het leven van Jezus
Flemish (Bruges), c. 1435-1445
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M648, fol. 3r
In this manuscript the Old Testament precedent is that of Moses striking the rock to bring forth water during the Isrealites time in the desert.


Moving on toward the point at which the subject stands alone are works that portray the miracle of Cana as a discrete picture within a series of pictures illustrating the life of Christ.  This kind of work occurs in the great high Medieval/early Renaissance cycles of fourteenth-century Italy at Assisi, Padua and Siena, by Torritti, Giotto and Duccio. 

Jacopo Torritti, Marriage Feast at Cana
Italian, 1290
Assisi, San Francesco (Upper Church)


Giotto, Marriage Feast at Cana
Italian, c. 1304-1306
Padua, Arena Chapel

Duccio, Marriage Feast at Cana
Italian, c. 1308-1311
Siena, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo

Giusto de'Menabuoi, Marriage Feast at Cana
Italian,  c. 1376-1378
Padua, Baptistry


One charming Siennese cycle, the Meditationes vitae Christi, owned by the Bibliotheque nationale de France in Paris (1330-1340, MS Italien 115), contains what amounts to a comic strip version of the Bible as page after page shows all the steps of the story, from the time the servants lay the table, through Mary’s recognition of the problem to the end, when everyone, including Jesus, contentedly sits sipping the good wine. 

The Table is Set, the Banquet Begins
From Meditationes vitae Christi
Italian (Siennese), c. 1330-1340
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Italien 115, fol. 79v


The Servants Alert Mary to the Diminishing Wine, Mary Tells Jesus
From Meditationes vitae Christi
Italian (Siennese), c. 1330-1340
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Italien 115, fol. 80v

Mary Tells the Servants to "Do whatever He tells you"
From Meditationes vitae Christi
Italian (Siennese), c. 1330-1340
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Italien 115, fol. 81v

Jesus Explains to the Servants What They Must Do
From Meditationes vitae Christi
Italian (Siennese), c. 1330-1340
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Italien 115, fol. 82r


A Servant Presents a Cup of the New Wine to the Host, while the Other Servants Stand By with the Wine Jars
From Meditationes vitae Christi
Italian (Siennese), c. 1330-1340
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Italien 115, fol. 82v


But, another stream of independent images of the miracle by itself had been developing as well, in sculpture as well as in painting and in other parts of the Christian world as well as in Europe.  

Carolingian Ivory, Marriage Feast at Cana
German, c. 820-870
London, British Museum


Gospel Lectionary
Austria (Salzburg), c. 1070-1090
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M780, fol. 17r


The earliest images present the bare bones of the narrative.  There is Jesus, Mary and the servers (or at least the water jars), sometimes the bride and groom appear as well.  


From a Coptic Gospel Book
Egypt (Damietta), c. 1178-1180
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Copte 13, fol. 224v

Workshop of Pacino da Bonaguida
Scenes from the life of Christ and the life of the Blessed Gerard of Villamagna
Italian (Florence), c. 1315-1325
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS 643, fol. 6r


From Sermons of Maurice de Sully
Italian (Milan or Genoa), c. 1320-1330
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 187, fol. 6
This image is a bit unusual in depicting the miracle taking place outside the house.


From Lives of The Virgin and of Christ
Italy (Naples), c. 1350
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 9561, 142v


Master of the Parement de Narbonne
From the Tres belles heures de Notre-Dame de Jean de Barry
French (Paris), c. 1380
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisitions latine 3093, fol.68

Jean Colombe
From Vita Jesu Christi by Ludolphe of Saxony
France (Bourges), c. 1475-1500
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MD Francais 177. fol. 91r



However, beginning around 1500, the number of people increase to include not only the bride, groom and servers,  but their families, the guests, the musicians, until one could say that, if not a cast of thousands, there is at least a cast of scores.  No doubt the rise of panel painting on both wood and canvas allowed artists to work to a larger scale and offered more space for invention than the pages of manuscripts ever could. 

Master of the Catholic Kings
Spanish, c. 1495-1497
Washington, National Gallery of Art

Juan de Flandes
Flemish, c. 1500-1504
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art


Gerard David, Marriage Feast at Cana
Flemish, c. 1500
Paris, Musée du Louvre



Hieronymous Bosch, Marriage Feast at Cana
Dutch, 1561
Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen



Paolo Veronese, Marriage Feast at Cana
Italian, 1563
Paris, Musée du Louvre



The height of this trend is the great painting, dated 1562, by Veronese now in the Louvre.  Over 130 people appear in this picture, according to the commentary on the Louvre website.1


No doubt due to the fame of the Veronese painting and a contemporary work by Tintoretto this “cast of hundreds” approach held sway.


Tintoretto, Marriage Feast at Cana
Italian, 1561
Venice,  Church of Santa Maria della Salute



Frans Francken II, Marriage Feast at Cana
Flemish, 1642
Toulouse, Musée  des Augustins



Mattia Preti, Marriage Feast at Cana
Italian, c. 1655-1660
London, National Gallery


Juan de Valdes Leal, Marriage Feast at Cana
Spanish, 1660
Paris, Musée du Louvre


Jan Steen, Marriage Feast at Cana
Dutch, 1676
Pasadena, Norton-Simon Foundation


Sebastiano Ricci, Marriage Feast at Cana
Italian, 1712-1715
Kansas City, MO, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art


It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that artists began to simplify their presentation of the miracle, gradually stripping away the added details and returning to the minimalist narrative of the early works.  Once again Jesus can be seen to be performing the miracle of changing water into wine.

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Marriage Feast at Cana
German, 1819
Hamburg, Kunsthalle


James Tissot, Marriage Feast at Cana
French, c. 1886-1894
New York, Brooklyn Museum


Plate, Marriage Feast at Cana
French (Sarreguemines, Lorraine), c. 1900
Sarreguemines, Musée de la Faience

Atelier Charles Lorin
Marriage Feast at Cana
French (Chartres), c. 1910-1914
New York, Church of St. Jean Baptiste


Eventually, in a work like that of the 1953 print by Stanley Spencer even the figure of Jesus seems to have disappeared and the title applied to what appears to be an ordinary wedding dinner, dominated by a multi-tiered cake. 

Stanley Spencer, Marriage at Cana
English, 1953
Swansea, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery

© M. Duffy, 2016
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