Sacred Texts, Metaphysical Images

The Getty Museum recently acquired an elaborately illuminated Hebrew Bible created in the Middle Ages, in the 13 th century, known as the Rothschild Pentateuch. This acquisition allows the Getty for the first time to represent the medieval art of illumination in sacred texts of three religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As a result, the museum is able to present a small but focused exhibition, Art of Three Faiths: A Torah, a Bible, and a Qur’an.

Menorah of the Tabernacle. Decorated Page Text, Book of Leviticus. Rothschild Pentateuch (text in Hebrew). The J. Paul Getty Museum. Photo by Edward Goldman.

L: Decorated Text Page, Book of Genesis. R: Decorated Text Page, Book of Exodus. Photographic reproductions from the Rothschild Pentateuch. The J. Paul Getty Museum. Photos by Edward Goldman.

Beltame, 2014. Sharon Ellis. Christopher Grimes Gallery. Photo by Edward Goldman.

Christopher Grimes Gallery, made me think that her small, exquisitely crafted metaphorical paintings inspired by nature could be illustrations for a modern sacred text, with references to endings, loss, and ultimate renewal.

Love Song, 2018. Sharon Ellis. Christopher Grimes Gallery. Photo by Edward Goldman.

Blue Hour, refers to the time of day when the sun is no longer visible, yet light remains. Sharon Ellis is known for spending months on each of her extremely intricate compositions, unhurried, like nature itself. Her recent body of works, with its sense of sadness, reminds us that new life will always replace that which has passed on.

Into Darkness, 2018. Sharon Ellis. Christopher Grimes Gallery. Photo by Edward Goldman.

Into the Darkness. Dry branches and black, silhouetted flowers sway in the wind, against a cloudy blue night sky. There is something metaphysical, melancholic, and metaphorical about the piece. It makes you think about the famous Latin phrase, ars longa vita brevis, which can be translated as, “life is short, but art is forever.”