Station I : Jesus is Condemned to Death.
In the architecture above pilot’s head are the six empty jugs to be filled with water at the wedding at Canna. The blood running down Christ’s face is the new wine. The cock who crowed three times is behind Jesus’ left shoulder, engaging the viewer. To show his emotional conflict, I painted Pilot’s face differently on each side. His left side looks proud and on the right, he is sad. His wife, Claudia, is just behind him. She is dressed similar to the cock as they both sang out a call to conscience.
Pleased with her progress on the career ladder, a personification of prideful ambition is pointlessly pouring water onto Pilot’s hands while the Living Water who washes all sin clean stands in front of him. We have the disinterested Roman soldier and below Jesus is a subtle suggestion of Old Testament Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers. The arch represents the reality that Jesus is opening the gateway to God in his walk of the Passion.
STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Our Lady of Victory’s Stations of the Cross
These stations were created for contemplation. They include symbolism and references to the Old Testament which may not be seen at first glance. I was struck by the beautiful unattributed relief sculptures of the Stations of the Cross in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Zagreb, Croatia. I wanted to pray with them in an artistic way. These works are derivative of that series. Rather than emphasizing the gory physical wounds inflicted on our Lord, such as the contemporary film, The Passion of the Christ; I decided to show the messiness of sin with rough brush marks and dark colors. Jesus is portrayed as man in fullness submitting to God’s will and the halo of course symbolizes his divinity. Curiously, it looks like the host Catholics receive in Mass. Roman soldiers are disinterested. The seven deadly sins and other characteristics of the wounded human heart are included until the end where His final kenosis act of dying opens the gates of sanctity to those who love him. Then, you begin to see the virtues of the Holy Spirit personified in the people around Jesus as they lay him in the tomb.
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Station II: Jesus Takes up the Cross.
The soldier has a tattoo “SPQR” on his arm stating his allegiance to Rome and Ceasar. The Jewish Pharisee has a tefillin around his wrist stating his subordinance to Jewish Law. Although he is being crucified, Jesus looks up to his Father in total freedom from this world knowing he chose this persecution in obedience and for love. The slave to sin has his ankle chains broken because our Savior has come to free us from sin. The hen in the cross is a description Jesus chose to describe himself.”How often I have wanted to gather your people together as a mother hen gathers her little ones under her wings.” Luke 13:34
Station III: Jesus Falls for the First Time.
The Sadducee in purple represents envy-Shadenfreude- happy to see Jesus fall. Unconfessed sin is clubbing Jesus. In the rock formation below, you see Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac until an angel stops him and said God will provide the sacrifice. The Roman soldier with rope gives emphasis to the sacrificial lamb God provided to repair our relationship with Him. The Romans could have executed Jesus quickly but they tortured him like the cat who tortures his prey. The moon represents Mary, reflecting the sun or it could also be the church with craters of imperfections and yet, still reflects Christ’s light. Catechism Paragraph # 748
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Station IV: Jesus Meets His Mother.
Eve is standing between them and the Dove gives reference to Mary as the New Arc. The bird has the olive branch in it’s mouth because a dove brought one to Noah representing a new world which Jesus provides as well.
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Station V: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross.
Jesus said, “Don’t you think that I could call on my Father to send more than 12 legions of angels to help me now?” Mathew 26:53 The angels would trample each other to help our Lord because they love him so much but God only allowed Simon the task. If they envied humans, it would be because we get to share in carrying the cross like our Lord. The butterfly foretells of the resurrection. The figure bottom left is looking at the viewer to make sure people see him helping for his own glory. Sloth has all of the tools in the toolbox but is falling asleep. He represents the culture of spiritual laziness.
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Station VI : Veronica Wipes the Blood from Jesus’ Face
In the Old Testament God is referred to as being in the clouds. For instance, Exodus 16:10 notifies us , “the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.” During the Transfiguration Mathew 17:5-6 describes, “suddenly a loud voice came out of the cloud, saying,”this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” Therefore, His face is in the clouds. Lust is looking at Veronica with his flimsy ladder representing his desire for love in transient relationships but getting nowhere. Veronica’s focus on Jesus provides a direct visual line catapulting her into heaven. Even though there must have been an incredible amount of noise, they share an inner silence beteewn their gaze. The Roman stands in front of a Roman flag with the Eagle as the symbol of their empire. In John 14:9, Jesus says, “Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father.” so I repeated the face in the clouds on the shroud Veronica holds.
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Station VII Jesus Falls the Second time.
Anger in the red hat is pushing the cross away from himself. While the Roman grasps at Jesus disrespectfully, our Lord is focused on placing his hand on the stone. When the Pharisees called on Jesus to quiet the crowd, He replied,” I tell you..... if they kept quiet the stones will cry out.” Luke 19:40 Also, I thought of “The stone rejected has become the cornerstone.” Psalm 118:22 and Acts 4:11 “This Jesus is the stone which was despised and rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else.” Acts 4:11
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Station VIII: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
Greed stands behind Jesus holding a coin purse with blood on his hands. He is feeling smug because of the deal he got in paying Judas only 33 pieces of silver when he would have paid more. A Roman soldier named Longinus, is beginning to awaken and so he is shielding his face from the scene. You can only see his helmet. Jesus looks to the baby which symbolizes new birth as he is entering into the Paschal Mystery for the children of God. The Raven is from the Old Testament, feeding Elijah in the desert because of his trust in God.
Station IX; Jesus Falls a Third Time.
The City in the clouds is a contemporary landscape of Cincinnati because the Passion is happening now. Judgement points his finger at the fallen Jesus. The pelican was believed to pierce its own breast with its beak in self sacrifice and feed its young of its blood. It is represented at the bottom of the composition.
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Station V: Simon of Cyrene Helps Jesus Carry the Cross.
Jesus said, “Don’t you think that I could call on my Father to send more than 12 legions of angels to help me now?” Mathew 26:53 The angels would trample each other to help our Lord because they love him so much but God only allowed Simon the task. If they envied humans, it would be because we get to share in carrying the cross like our Lord. The butterfly foretells of the resurrection. The figure bottom left is looking at the viewer to make sure people see him helping for his own glory. Sloth has all of the tools in the toolbox but is falling asleep. He represents the culture of spiritual laziness.
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Station XI: Jesus is nailed to the Cross
Michelangelo’s portrayal of the Creation of Eve from Adam is in the clouds as the new Adam and Eve repair our relationship with the Father. Mary engages the viewer with her hands open in gesture. John takes comfort in her. Moses presenting the Bronze Serpent is under the snake crushed and at the foot of both Mary and Jesus. “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him will have eternal life.”-John 3:14-15 Two workers for Rome are just doing their job as usual. They are inflicting the most pain on Jesus while unaware of the suffering they cause. However, the one stops and looks up to question the other. Finally, a personification of Gluttony continues to eat an apple from the forbidden tree.
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XII: Jesus Dies on the Cross.
Two turtle doves sit on the cross. They were the sacrifice of the poor that Mary and Joseph offered when presenting their child in the Temple. The birds also represent the Old and the New Testament of the Bible. Mary Magdalene gains a halo.”'For She Loved Much' (Luke 7:47) John has taken Mary into his heart. Longinus clearly sees divinity on the cross and the gap between his left fingers show the symbol for the Trinity and then the human and divine nature of Jesus.
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Station XIII: Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross.
Young Mary is holding her baby son again. Her right hand is bloody as she is always willing to get into the thick of things for love. St Joseph of Arimathea and St. John are assisting in bringing Jesus down from the cross. The figure in the back is the unknown and unexpected saint who seems miles away from God but quickly becomes sanctified. A broken sword lays at the bottom of the scene as predicted in Psalm 46, “he breaks the bow and shatters the spear.”
There is a legend that a robin saw Jesus on the way to Calvary. Jesus’ crown of thorns pierced His head, making it bleed. The small, brown bird flew down. To ease the pain, it plucked out a thorn from Jesus’ head. On the thorn was a drop of blood, which fell onto the breast of the small bird. That red stain is there to this day as a thank you.
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Station XIV: Jesus is Laid in the Tomb.
The virtues of the Holy Spirit are personified in the beloved members surrounding the dead Jesus. The dark heavy textured walls of the tomb represents the dark night of the soul. St. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemis are on either side of Jesus. St. John looks to Mary in mission. The gray bearded figure in the back is Simeon. This is what he saw when he told Mary that a sword will pierce her heart. Below, a rendition of Noah’s Arc is included. Mary Magdalene, the first disciple to announce the resurrected Christ engages the viewer.