LDS Portrayal of Women in Art

Introduction

The LDS Church has posted a collection of paintings depicting women of the Old Testament on their website. It is my observation that all of the art used by the LDS Church today provides the audience with a limited and superficial view of humanity. In particular, women depicted by the Church in the art they use are shown to be fitted to a set of correlated characteristics. Some of these characteristics do not portray what women seem to naturally be across the world. A whole range of emotions and feelings also seem to be missing from these portrayals.

Unfortunately, all the women portrayed on the website article noted above are of similar build: 5'-7" and slender. They all portray women with very conservative and reverent manners. It is my opinion that the LDS Church would benefit from expanding its use of art, especially that which portrays women in the Biblical context. The women of the Bible are supposed to be women of significance, many of which might end up being the heroes of our daughters some day.

In this post, I show comparisons between the art used by the LDS Church and art created by others and highlight the differences that support my opinion. It is my hope that the Church decides to begin using a wider variety of art (both modern and historical) to paint a picture that better represents who we are.

Rebecca

The first painting I would like to point to is titled, "Rebekah at the Well" by Michael Deas (non LDS artist and illustrator). In this painting, we see Rebecca bowing forward respectfully serving Eliezer.

Upon closer inspection, we can see in her face humility, austere reverence, and respect. Her eyes are closed and her head is bowed as she provides the service to the man who sits resting.

Let us now compare and contrast this Rebecca to the work of Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. Tiepolo's Rebecca is reaching out to inspect some jewelry in a manner that speaks to her confidence. She is not afraid of the proximity of her hand to this man and she stands erect with her chin held high. Her eyes are not closed but steady on the object before her. To me, she seems she would make a savvy business woman who knows what she wants.

Looking a little closer at her face, we can detect more the feeling of self-assurance she exhibits.

Another portrayal of Rebecca worth considering is that of Valario Castello. In this painting, we see a Rebbecca that appears to be strong, supportive, secure, and tender. She stands taller than the man and tilts her head in a way that speaks to me of a motherly concern for a weary traveller. Unlike Deas' Rebecca, she appears to be very comfortable in her world, ready to prove to Abraham that Isaac is worthy of her hand. It is obvious that a weak Isaac would not mix well with this Rebecca.




One of my favorite portrayals of Rebecca is that done by Nicola Grassi. This painting depicts Rebecca trying on the Jewelry offered by Abraham through his servant. Grassi's Rebecca stands with an arm extended to Eliezer as if she thoroughly enjoys her femininity. While extending her arms and curving her fingers in graceful beauty, she seems almost unaware of it. Her towering height above the man and everyone else puts emphasis on her station.



What do these other paintings of Rebecca offer to us above and beyond the painting provided by the Church? They give us a woman who is truly worthy to be my daughter's hero! Someone that respects herself enough to have confidence and deeply feel of her independence.

Eve

An LDS artist by the name of Joseph Brickey currently produces a lot of artwork used by the Church. One of his works is a painting called, "Leaving the Garden". In this picture, Eve is very well supported by her strong man as they thoughtfully walk away from the Garden. Adam appears to be looking down the path, planning ahead of time where they should go and what they should eat. Eve is pondering the Gospel while she stares heavenward, not paying any attention to the path ahead. According to her body size and mannerisms, she is towing the Church-correlated party line. Brickey's Eve makes an effort while they walk to rest her hand on Adam's hand as a gesture of her reassuring love and devotion to him. She makes an effor to do this even though it looks awkward and forced. Their posture is stiff and clothing is generic. In general, we could summarize this as a well sanitized image of what a typical, correlated Mormon couple should be.

An excellent contrast to Brickey's Eve is shown in a fresco by Andrea Del Castagno. Here we are faced with what appears to be mother of a Spartan warrior. Certainly, we have seen this Eve on the Television during the last Olympic swim meet or javelin contest. This may not be your typical woman, but definitely a hero to the aspiring athlete.

The expulsion from the Garden of Eden must have been a traumatic experience. I think a painting like Masaccio's is appropriate in speaking to us of the possible fear they might have felt during this time. I wonder why the church has decided not to show the Expulsion as a traumatic experience. The way I've always seen it portrayed is with the same facial expressions you find in the locker rooms of the temple. In contrast with Brickey's painting, Adam and Eve are very much equals in sin and equal in fear. While not a happy situation for either one, it is a prime opportunity for the couple to work things out together. 

A painting of Eve that really speaks to me is that done by Jan van Eyck. I see stern resolution in Eyck's Eve. She looks tired - as if she recently endured some pain and feels like she needs to collapse. But at the same time, she is ready to get out in the world and survive. She feels remorse for eating the apple but there is determination. I see her very near to God. She is strong. She is definitely worthy to be the hero of our race!

The Eve depicted by Hans Baldung Grien is worth comparing to the others. I love this painting because of how well Grien depicts innocence. The scariest monster in the world is inches away from her, breathing on her neck and gripping her arm with his piercing, bony fingers. She doesn't seem to mind. This image is in deep contrast to the Eve I have grown to know in the temple. The Eve I know is reserved and conservative. Unfortunately, my Eve is slow to laugh while she stays busy listening reverently to Peter James and John. Grien's Eve is ready to enjoy life both in her innocence and in the cruel world. Interestingly, I sense that she won't lose that smirk after she gets cast out. Though God gave her pain in child bearing, she recovers and laughs it off. We all need a little bit of this Eve in us!

Rahab

This is the time to contrast traditional heroes with an unorthodox one. Rahab is known in the Bible to be the harlot of Jericho. Here in Elspeth Young's depiction of Rahab, called, "Waiting for the Promise", we see her looking out the window of a second-story building into the street below. Maybe she is contemplating her recent involvement in assisting the Israelites in capturing Jericho. What I find somewhat unfortunate in this particular depiction is how conservative she is made to look. While it's true that nobody knows for sure whether she was a prostitute or just an inn keeper, the fact of the matter is that she is possibly not the role model we want our daughters to follow. So my question is why portray her as the furthest possible thing from a prostitute? She looks like she could be the librarian at my children's elementary school.

I think it might be useful to see what other's conceived her to look like. The artist, James Tissot portrayed her a little differently. While Young's rendering is well done and nice to look at, I wonder why a depiction similar to Tissot's was avoided. Is it helpful for the Church to try and avoid the depiction of a woman with a less than respectful career?

Esther

A painting of "Queen Esther" by Roger W. Otis (a member of the LDS Church) portrays her as an older woman giving a small boy a kiss as she holds and coddles him. This is a nice painting and very realistic. I can see my own grandmother in this painting when she used to hold my baby cousins in her arms during Christmas dinner. I can almost see the picture come to life as Esther gently bounces the boy to sleep while the rest of the family chats and laughs and clanks their glasses in the background. I'm surprised this artist isn't more well known for his work.

I think it would do us good to complement Otis' Esther with others. Of particular interest to me is the work by François-Léon Esther Benouville.

When I first saw this painting, something told me it wasn't right. It didn't fit well as my expectation for Esther. I still have a little trouble with those sullen, boyish eyes. After some time however, it has begun to grow on me as I realize how commanding she is. She is a queen, after all. Even her servant goes out of her way to admire Esther. This has become one of these pictures that draws me in to the face. This is an Esther I feel I must listen to if I hear her speak. She is definitely worthy to be a hero.

Conclusion

I would like to end with my current favorite painting of all. It is a work done by a woman named Constance Charpentier and it is called "Melancholy". This is a very beautiful painting of a woman who is deep in thought. It's one of those paintings that seems to point you right to the face as if you know the person and want to start talking to her. At the same time, she speaks to me, explaining her fears and troubles as if they are equal to mine. It is a melancholy relief to me. I would think art like this should be welcomed in and among the list of images in the Church. In particular, I think this should be added to the images Young Women use as part of their lessons. What do you think?

GreekScholarsTestify

The next website I plan to create will be called "GreekMythScholarsTestify" patterned after the old one where we used to... oh, wait... I got sidetracked. As soon as I create this website, I will post my own, personal testimony and then I will invite others to add theirs as well. So here is my testimony.

I grew up believing in a lot of things. I don't remember when I first learned about Santa Claus. It was a long time ago. But I do remember believing in him with all my heart. As I started growing and interacting with other kids at school, my belief in Santa began to fail. There were kids that would tell me he wasn't real. I began to assemble facts in my mind that tore down at the foundation of my Christmas past, present, and future. My dreams of candy canes and lolly pops were being whipped about by a raging tempest. But my parents never seemed to indicate Santa wasn't real. I was conflicted and confused. At first it scared me to consider the idea of Santa not being anything more than an icon. The idea presented a stark picture for me. What was once comfortable and warm, started to become cold and frightening. If Santa wasn't real, that means my parents had to spend lots of money to buy the kids presents. They had to do all this late at night and in secret. They had to hide things from us and play tricks on us. This also meant there were some families who might not get presents. It made me sad. After some time, I began to get comfortable with the idea. It was a reality that I had to grow into. With time, I realized I was probably better off not believing in it anyway. I found other ways to make the holiday meaningful to me.

In 5th grade, I began to learn about Greek Mythology. Once again, I was presented with stories that people used to believe in. These stories used to be real to the Macedonians. I learned that the stories took place in a country that still exists today and many of the names used in the stories are real places. A little question piqued my senses: Is it real? I asked questions like this as we began to study the voyage of Ulysses. But my teacher told me the stories were all fake. This was not hard for me to understand. By this point, I was an experienced critic. I rejected all those stories without exerting much effort. They soon lost their worth and reason for my regard and respect. Nobody in the whole world considered them real so obviously, I should not either.

Once my mind was made up that I didn't believe any of the Greek myths, I never found it necessary to revisit the question. The idea of belief in the Greek myths never surfaced all through my adolescent years and even into my adult years as a young father. Then something happened. Through some trying events in my life, I was thrown into a position in which everything was questioned again. I started to throw out all the ideas I had grown up with. My parents and friends were very concerned about me and tried to get me to believe in all my old ideas. They seemed to feel that I could not be part of their life if I didn't believe the way they did. Their concern for me ran deep and caused a lot of pain for all of us. But no matter what I did, I couldn't get my old beliefs back. They were gone. They were carried off into the fog just like Santa's sleigh on Christmas Eve.

One night, about a year later, I sat studying in my library. I looked up at my bookshelf and there sat The Odyssey. I wondered at it. Memories from my days in Middle school readings came to mind. I remembered the story of Ulysses being tied to the boat mast and struggling to free himself as he yearned for the Sirens. I remember the encounter with the giant and the boat of the dead and his difficulties upon returning home. The memories of these stories stirred something in me. A little pilot light ignited. I wanted to find Ulysses again. I wanted to hear the voice of his benefactress. I wanted to hear his resolute cries in my mind. A desire was growing in my breast. I picked up the book and began to read.

This is when I discovered Pallas Athena. She is only words on the pages of Homer to most of us. We might recognize her image carved in stone, standing with a helmet, spear, and wise owl at her side. I recently found a picture of her, rendered by Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola of Italy. It struck me deeply.

I found in this artwork an image of a being that could embrace us with love and understanding. I found that it was a person very close to my heart - the one I started out with as a child. Somehow, this being felt my insecurities and my troubles as if she had seen them all herself. She lived in this image. While she didn't have the power of the stars nor the stoic grandeur of the Gods of Persia, she did seem to understand. Something started to grow from Girolamo's painting and climb down the Internet wall onto the floor of my room. A little olive branch from her homeland sprouted and brushed up against my ankle. It was so tender and small, I wondered at how it came to be from such brute force of her giant spear. The touch of the olive branch gave me a deep sense of peace in my mind. I felt all would be well and prosperous despite the uncertainty that bounded around us. I've since prayed to Athena and laid before her feet all my doubts and concerns with trepidation. She answered with calm and love.  

Many skeptics out there might be wondering at my experiences. Let me take this opportunity to testify to you that while my belief is heavily nuanced and unorthodox, it is belief nonetheless. Without belief, where would we be? We should not forget that that the images we toyed with in our childish minds were the very tools that gave us the ability to think in abstract and reason through uncertainty. Our beliefs give us hope. You might wonder how and why a person would believe in stories that seem demonstrably false. To that, I respond with a request that you take the time to demonstrate Greek Myth false once and for all. In fact, I challenge you to find the lies, if you think they exist. Perhaps in your quest, you might stumble upon the beautiful imagery that I have. The very same imagery that has inspired so many people across the vastness of human history.

Fantasy

What is the role of fantasy in our daily lives? I'm not talking about the media genre but the state of illusion and daydream. I have a friend that decided he would raise his son without a belief in Santa Claus. He felt the fantasy was unhealthy for him since it was a "lie".

Maybe we should consider the difference between a lie and a fantasy. A lie is a deliberately false statement. Does fantasy ever require the purveyor of the illusion to deliberate a false statement? What if a child asks if Santa is real? What if the parent decides to continue the fantasy?

I think fantasy is okay (even healthy in many cases) as long as you can differentiate between reality and the fantasy. This works for adults but how do children do this? To them, Santa is reality. Does this mean the Santa fantasy is unhealthy for children? From personal experience, I learned that children can take it hard when parents have been telling them Santa is real and later they find out their parents never believed in the first place. This happened to my daughter and it was painful to witness her reaction.

Now, let's consider religion. Is the fantasy of religion healthy? Many people realize the Book of Mormon is fantasy but claim that the stories within are a powerful motivator, an inspirational fabric, and unique reminder of appropriate moral etiquette.

I think this kind of religious belief is okay as long as people understand it is not real. It is important that people don't try to convince others that the Book of Mormon is reality. That would be a lie.

Some of you might already know that I admire Lady Gaga. She is part fiction in my fantasy world. I have read about the real Lady Gaga in her biography and reject her true self on the grounds of my religious fervor for the human-divine.

My fictional image of Lady Gaga is part God, part feeling, and part disappointment. All three of these are flavors that when mixed together, taste amazing. Somehow, Blixa was able to portray just the way I think of her in my mind with her expert rendition:

Why do I admire this fictional image of Lady Gaga?

...to be continued...