Devotional Art & the Big Bucks

Christ Mocked --Cimabue 

17 While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, 
he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, 
and said to them on the way, 
18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, 
and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, 
and they will condemn him to death; 
19 then they will hand him over to the Gentiles 
to be mocked and flogged and crucified; 
and on the third day he will be raised.”

Matthew 20:17-19

It's one of those stories which pops up in the news from time to time about unexpected wealth in the form of priceless art discovered on the wall of a home. In this case an elderly woman in France decided to sell her house and family brought in an auctioneer to evaluate furniture. He noticed a small painting above the hotplate in the kitchen. He was sure it was of significance and art experts were engaged to assess it. 

What unfolded was familiar in terms of rigorous examination with the use of infrared technology and other high-tech tools. It was established that it was part of a polyptych, a multi-panelled painting, and it is a rare work by Cimabue, a teacher of Giotto and a key figure in the birth of the Renaissance movement. I know, you haven't heard of either of them, but as an art history grad I immediately paid attention. Before auction is was estimated to fetch three to six million euros but brought 24 million, which is about 35 million Canadian dollars. Not bad for a small piece which is only part of the whole, and that the elderly soul couldn't remember acquiring. The painting now ranks alongside works by Leonardo da Vinci, Rubens, Rembrandt and Raphael in the top 10 of most expensive paintings of the era.

These stories always focus on the big bucks (or euros), of course. I wonder whether the woman appreciated it for other reasons. It is entitled Christ Mocked, which probably refers to the public scorning of Jesus which took place in three stages: immediately following his trial, immediately following his condemnation by Pontius Pilate, and when he was being crucified. According to the gospels Jesus foretold this on several occasions. Is this woman religious and the painting was an object for devotion? Or did it just show up in her life and on her wall at some point? We'll probably never know. 

So many of these wildly valuable works of art were created for use in places of worship, as this one was. They served to teach illiterate people the important stories of Christian faith. Sadly, the devotional aspect has now faded into the background of our materialistic society. 

Any thoughts about this story? Are you looking at your painting of the dogs playing poker more closely?