Orthodox Easter special: Eastern Sun
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Our fifteenth Spring Vignettes piece celebrates Orthodox Easter, which will be celebrated by Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Christians on April 16th this year (the Gregorian date), in accordance with the Julian Calendar.
Before you read what the piece was intended to portray, share what it portrays to _you_. I’m just the artist; you’re the beholder.
Leave a comment.
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Other than that eggs are a symbol of life and rebirth, there’s no particular symbolism in the body of this piece; it’s just an idyllic pastoral scene with some cute cluck-clucks.
The ornate designs on the eggs, along with their red color, is inspired by an Eastern Christian tradition of dying eggs red for easter, and later, decorating them with elaborate designs. I thought it would be very neat if a clutch of eggs had gold, silver, and copper designs on them. Did someone manage to paint and gild three viable eggs, without interrupting their incubation? Does this hen somehow lay eggs naturally decorated with beautiful metallic designs? We just don’t know.
The trees in the background are inspired by the Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus sempervirens “ever-green”), a tall and striking coniferous tree that punctuates the landscape throughout the Mediterranean region. Many ancient cypresses have been venerated as sacred trees. The Cypress of Abarkuh is likely more than four thousand years old.
The frame is inspired by Greek architecture, especially the Parthenon; which was built in antiquity as a pagan temple, but was repurposed as a Christian church later in its history.
If you look closely at the repeating pattern on the lintel, you’ll notice that I very cleverly integrated St. Andrew’s Cross.
According to Christian tradition, St. Andrew was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus of Nazareth, regarded by Christians as an incarnation of the God of Abraham and spiritual savior of humankind. Andrew doesn’t seem to have had a Hebrew name; only a Greek name, Andréās (Ἀνδρέᾱς); which implies that his family had assimilated into Greek society to a considerable extent.
Andrew and his brother Simon (later known as Cephas and Peter) were fishermen when Jesus was preaching on the Sea of Galilee. According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus demonstrated his divinity by calling up a miraculous catch of fish when the nets were coming up empty. Jesus called Andrew and Simon to be “fishers of men”; and they became his apostles, preaching his teachings to the people.
After preaching in Achaea, Greece, and convincing many people to abandon the worship of the pagan gods, Andrew was sentenced to crucifixion by the Roman governor Aegeas; and by some accounts, he asked not to be crucified in the same way as Jesus, as he thought himself unworthy. He was crucified on a diagonal, decussate, or saltire cross; and the saltire cross is known as St. Andrew’s Cross to this day.
According to the Gospel of John, Andrew recognized Jesus as the savior first, and introduced him to his brother Simon (later known as Cephas and Peter). Orthodox Christians call Andrew “the First-Called”, and regard him as the predecessor to the Patriarch of Constantinople as “first among equals” and leader of Christianity.