Here is a quite revealing self-portrait of Tintoretto as an older man. Tintoretto, unlike Da Vinci, was a deeply religious man, and so he tried to paint Biblical scenes in an interesting but appropriate manner. Here is a picture of Jesus’ baptism by John. proving it was done as a sprinkling not an immersion (from the Catholic viewpoint). Here is the flagellation of Christ…. Here is the entombment of Christ…. My favorite OT painting of Tintoretto is the creation of... Read more

(This review just appeared in the SBL review of books available online through the SBL website—This review was published by RBL 2019 by the Society of Biblical Literature. For more information on obtaining a subscription to RBL, please visit http://www.bookreviews.org/subscribe.asp.). Amy-Jill Levine and Ben Witherington III The Gospel of Luke New Cambridge Bible Commentary Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Pp. x + 715. Paper. $39.99. ISBN 9780521676816. Troy M. Troftgruben Wartburg Seminary In the field of New Testament studies, Amy-Jill... Read more

Tintoretto was also asked to paint legendary and even mythological scenes. The first two below are versions of St. George and the Dragon. In the next painting King Midas judges a musical contest between Pan on his pipes and Apollo with his lyre…. Read more

Some of Tintoretto’s religious paintings that have been hanging in old churches in Venice are so enormous that one needs to back up 50 feet to take it in, or alternately get very close is see the details. This very busy painting of the conversion of St. Paul on Damascus Road is just full of activity and the eye darts around looking at it all. Here is the deposition of Christ, a very familiar scene often painted. The el Greco... Read more

The largest exhibit of Tintoretto’s work outside of Italy is now on display in the National Gallery, and well worth a visit. Here’s a little info about the famous painter…. Tintoretto, like most artists, needed patrons, and of course the church was a major patron of the arts in his day, and equally clearly they wanted religious paintings. Here’s a couple of examples…. This last painting is his earliest, and it is interesting to see how his skill evolved over... Read more

Probably the two most technically skilled Impressionists were Monet and Renoir, and for good reason two of the most famous painters of the last 150 years. Here are some of their best efforts. First, Monet, and then the final picture of the little girl in blue is a very famous painting by Auguste Renoir. Compare these paintings and see what you think. Renoir lived until 1919, living through WWI, and he had the benefit of having many Impressionist predecessors from... Read more

See below…… This trip is first come, first serve, as we will only be doing one bus load— so the first 40 to sign up get to go!! Tour Hosts: • Dr. Ben Witherington & • Nancy L. Dumas MAY 23-JUNE 13, 2020 The Genesis to Revelation Tour Covering Old Testament and New Testament Sites Egypt – Israel – Turkey / MAY 23-JUNE 13, 2020 Tour Itinerary: May 23 Sat Depart Atlanta – Fly Cairo Take the non-stop direct TK... Read more

Perhaps Monet’s most famous paintings are the some 15 paintings he did of the West Facade of Rouen Cathedral. Two of these hang in the National Gallery and they date to 1894. You can see how much the picture changes due to the change in the light. Impressionists asked the phenomenological question— Is the color in the lighting, or is it in the object that is lighted, or some of both? By the turn of the 20th century Monet had... Read more

Here’s a help post by NT colleague Larry Hurtado. See what you think……. BW3 Text-Collections and an Emergent NT Canon A recent survey of the contents of Christian manuscripts from the first three centuries focuses on identifying which texts were combined in the same manuscript: Michael Dormandy, “How the Books Became the Bible: The Evidence for Canon Formation From Work-Combination in Manuscripts,” TC: A Journal of Biblical Textual Criticism 23 (2018): 1-39. (TC is an open-access and online journal: available... Read more

One of my favorite early Manet paintings is ‘the old musician’ (1862) above. But Manet was also already pursuing some still life paintings, for instance here—- Oysters on the half shell. There is something incongruous about that gorgeous gold frame, around mundane oysters. Compare that to the 1879 painting of George Moore in Manet’s garden…. More like the later Impressionistic work is this study of a watering can. As is the haystacks painting below from 1882… Read more