"Our work is to continually restore a world that has been broken by our fallen nature"

The Pieta

Why did Jesus insist on being baptism? John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. But Jesus was without sin so why was He so persistent about being baptized by John?

On May 21, 1972, Laszlo Thoth climbed over the railing at St. Peter's basilica and began to hammer away at Michelangelo's Pieta, shouting “I am Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.” The Pieta shows the crucified Christ cradled in the arms of His mother after He was taken down from the cross.

Thoth managed to strike approximately 15 blows to the priceless work of art with a geologist's hammer before he was restrained by police with the help of visitors to the basilica. The statue suffered severe damage, particularly to the madonna face and head. The attack left about 100 marble fragments littering the floor of the chapel. The Vatican resolved to repair the damage but there was the question of precisely how to go about it.

Some experts argued to leave it as it was, in its damaged state. Others suggested restoring it in such a way that the restored parts would be clearly distinguishable from the original. In the end the Vatican opted to restore the statue to its original state, prompting one of he most complex and delicate restoration projects in art history.

The restoration team spent more than 5 months identifying all the fragments, some of them minute chips, before beginning the long slow process of reattaching them with invisible glue and powder ground from the same Carrara marble as the original.

About 10 months after the attack, the Pieta was back on display, behind bullet proof glass. The restoration work was all but invisible to the casual tourist.

As for Laszlo, in 1973 he was confined to a psychiatric hospital in Italy. He was discharged in 1975 and deported back to Australia where he seemingly lived out the rest of his life as a hermit n a remote part of New South Wales.

The Restoration of the World

Our work is to continually restore a world that has been broken by our fallen nature. God has allowed us this time to continue His work and has given us tools to do so.

By His participation in the baptism offered by John, Jesus gives us many gifts. He gives us the sacrament by which we become adopted Children of God and accepts His mission as God's suffering servant.

But perhaps most importantly, through baptism Jesus sets in motion God's saving plan to renew all things according to the Divine Will. To “make all things new,” means to restore all things to the way God meant for them to be, including or perhaps especially, our human nature.

God created mankind with all the grace he would need to live in constant communion with God. But through disobedience, man lost that grace and left himself vulnerable to the darkness and to evil. As he fell, mn took all of creation with him. And so we live in a world that is less than what God originally intended. Baptism restores to us the grace God intended for us to have from the beginning.

Our reason for existence is to be at one with God. Being made in His image and likeness it is in our nature to be self sacrificing for the sake of others.

Throughout the millennia, art has informed and been informed by, our understanding of the role man plays in the world. During the early period of Christian art, man was portrayed as he is in heaven, surrounded by the uncreated light of God and enjoying the peace and serenity that comes with being one with God.

During the Gothic period, man was portrayed as a pilgrim, finding his way back to the state of grace he originally enjoyed.

The Baroque period emphasized man's struggle against the darkness in his ongoing spiritual war with the demonic.

But what is the concept of man that will carry us through the third millennium. What is the vision that will inform our artistic endeavors and in turn be shaped by the arts?

Man is a liturgical creature. That is, the purpose of man is to glorify God and sanctify himself. Perhaps this is the view of man that artists need to hold in their thoughts as they create; man as a being completely attuned to the voice of God speaking to him through the created world. Such a person would reflect on the nature of his (or her) relation to God in everything he does, every action he takes and every work he enters into. In every endeavor, Liturgical Man first considers how his actions will affect his relationship with God. This is man reborn, and made new.

When we are baptized, we no longer belong to evil, but to good. God purchases our soul and brings us from the darkness into the light, because He believes in the goodness of His creation.

During Advent we were reminded to prepare for the coming of the Lord, both as the Savior of the World, and as its’ judge during the last days. But today, on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we celebrate the beginning. We celebrate the baptism of Jesus. By His actions our state of grace is restored and we once again may live with God as we were always meant to from the foundation of the world.

Pax Vobiscum
The Baptism of the Lord

Lawrence Klimecki, MSA, is a deacon in the Diocese of Sacramento. He is a public speaker, writer, and artist, reflecting on the intersection of art and faith and the spiritual “hero’s journey” that is part of every person’s life. He maintains a blog at www.DeaconLawrence.org and can be reached at Lawrence@deaconlawrence.com

Lawrence draws on ancient Christian tradition to create new contemporary visions of sacred art. For more information on original art, prints and commissions, Please visit www.DeaconLawrence.org 

Purchase fine art prints of Deacon Lawrence’s work here.