Christ's Entry into Jerusalem, 2022

                              Christ's Entry into Brussels in 1889, 1888 -- James Ensor (Belgian, 1860 - 1949)

                                 Oil on canvas 252.6 × 431 cm The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

So many years through the decades I've sought out an image of the painting above as I contemplate Palm/Passion Sunday. For me it speaks powerfully to what theologian N.T. Wright describes as the "perfect storm" of that fateful procession when Jesus entered Jerusalem from the east amidst a ragtag crowd while Pilate entered from the west with the imperial majesty of the Roman Empire. To all observers it was no contest yet, improbably, Christ's reign of humility and sacrificial love rather than "might makes right" has prevailed.

 

I think I return to this painting because I know in my heart of hearts that the stories of Holy Week and of Resurrection Day are more than "long ago and far away." They are meant to be achingly current, speaking to the heartbreaks and tragedies, the hopes and expectations of the times in which we live.

Here is the description from the Getty Museum of Ensor's work,  which was huge -- essentially a mural. 

 James Ensor took on religion, politics, and art in this scene of Christ entering contemporary Brussels in a Mardi Gras parade. In response to the French pointillist style, Ensor used palette knives, spatulas, and both ends of his brush to put down patches of colors with expressive freedom. He made several preparatory drawings for the painting, including one in the J. Paul Getty Museum's collection.  

 
Ensor's society is a mob, threatening to trample the viewer--a crude, ugly, chaotic, dehumanized sea of masks, frauds, clowns, and caricatures. Public, historical, and allegorical figures, along with the artist's family and friends, make up the crowd. The haloed Christ at the center of the turbulence is in part a self-portrait: mostly ignored, a precarious, isolated visionary amidst the herdlike masses of modern society. Ensor's Christ functions as a political spokesman for the poor and oppressed--a humble leader of the true religion, in opposition to the atheist social reformer Emile Littré, shown in bishop's garb holding a drum major's baton and leading on the eager, mindless crowd.
 
After rejection by Les XX, the artists' association that Ensor had helped to found, the painting was not exhibited publicly until 1929. Ensor displayed Christ's Entry prominently in his home and studio throughout his life. With its aggressive, painterly style and merging of the public with the deeply personal, Christ's Entry was a forerunner of twentieth-century Expressionism.