The Art of Lent: A Painting a Day from Ash Wednesday to Easter
- Downloads：8148
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-02-26 06:52:03
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Wendy Beckett
- ISBN：1514004267
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
This delightful book describes and interprets a series of forty full-color paintings for each day of Lent。 Artists often address subjects that our culture seeks to avoid， and the brilliant and perceptive reflections from nun and art historian Sister Wendy Beckett will help you to read these paintings with a more discerning eye and encounter deeper levels of spiritual meaning than may at first appear。
Reviews
BDC
，
This book is probably not for everybody。 As an artist myself I was fascinated by the works that were chosen。 The short devotionals were beautifully written。
Jennifer
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Quick insight/devotional alongside paintings for each day of Lent。 A great accompaniment to the Lenten season。
Chris
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Meh。 Just not very inspiring for me。
Heidi
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This was a different way for me to engage with lent。 Several of the paintings chosen really ministered to me。 I actually ordered a framed print of one。 I didn’t realize the actual book was so small in size。。。it made it harder to look at the paintings。 Overall， I enjoyed it。
Rachel Taylor
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I think this will remain my Lenten devotion for many years。 Sister Wendy seamlessly captures the holy mysteries of Lent in dozens of beautiful works of art。
Mary Margaret
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I got rather ahead of the plan to read this one page and painting at a time （even though that’s what you’re supposed to do） because I cannot get enough of the way that Sister Wendy describes art。 It’s never simply a formal analysis; rather， she captures the heart and soul of each image through a gloriously descriptive vocabulary that never ceases to amaze me。 Since I read this as an e-book， I read the description first， and then I turned the page and saw the work of art。 I never know how she saw I got rather ahead of the plan to read this one page and painting at a time （even though that’s what you’re supposed to do） because I cannot get enough of the way that Sister Wendy describes art。 It’s never simply a formal analysis; rather， she captures the heart and soul of each image through a gloriously descriptive vocabulary that never ceases to amaze me。 Since I read this as an e-book， I read the description first， and then I turned the page and saw the work of art。 I never know how she saw what she did in these paintings， but the humanity and the spiritual depths that she brings forth is honestly breathtaking and amazing to read。This will likely be a yearly read for me， and I look forward， as always， to reading more Sister Wendy， soon。5/5 stars。 。。。more
Gina
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Tiny little tome to keep by ur bedside during lent - one pic and one mini essay each day -
Sean
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I was introduced to Sister Wendy Beckett by way of teaching an art appreciation lecture course。 While doing research in order to help formulate my class syllabus I came across her book “The Story of Painting，” and then her BBC video series by the same name。 As a painter myself， I found her overview of themes and analysis to be helpful in describing the themes to my own students。 I ended up using her book “The Story of Painting”， as the supplemental textbook for the class and modeled my syllabus I was introduced to Sister Wendy Beckett by way of teaching an art appreciation lecture course。 While doing research in order to help formulate my class syllabus I came across her book “The Story of Painting，” and then her BBC video series by the same name。 As a painter myself， I found her overview of themes and analysis to be helpful in describing the themes to my own students。 I ended up using her book “The Story of Painting”， as the supplemental textbook for the class and modeled my syllabus on the structure she laid out; starting with the Lascaux cave paintings and then moving through the history of （mainly） Western art。 Because I was so impressed by her simple and highly educated style — which helped people to locate their focus on the images themselves and then extrapolate their meaning from what IS there — I became open to the other books she had written。 As lent was approaching， I was incredibly excited to have found a Lenten devotional book written by Sister Wendy and quickly snatched it up through Nav’s press。 The devotional “The Art of Lent” takes the reader from Ash Wednesday， through the five weeks of Lent， Holy Week， and ends with the Resurrection。 The contents are divided into weekly thematic sections that frame the paintings and devotional readings starting with: silence， contemplation， peace， joy， confidence， and love。 The book provides a daily devotional for everyday of the week except Sunday， and consists of one painting and Sister Wendy’s short reflection。 The reflections are just that however， they are not meant to be— from what I can tell— formal analysis， or critical interpretations。 Nor are they heady theological reflections full of biblical references and footnotes。 At first， I was somewhat disappointed by this， but as lent progressed I decided to shift my perspective and use the devotional in conjunction with “The Book of Common Prayer。” For me this was the key， I could now appreciate it as a supplemental to a meatier Lenten prayer devotion。 As an artist and educator， I found the devotionals to be short and fun。 It was just what I needed。 Thus I found that many times her short devotions， along with the paintings helped me to gain a profound truth。 In particular the section on peace was very much impactful to me。 She reflects on how to find peace when we don’t get exactly what we wanted， hoped， or prayed for。 She talks about having our desires re-aligned by Christ and quips， “Our spirit is too great for small and specific happinesses: our potential is infinite。” From this I realized that I too was often tempted to pray for specific outcomes to situations and put my hopes in God on whether or not He granted those。 This reframing of letting Christ realign our desires with his and in letting go of specific outcomes， all while choosing peace， allowed to be more thankful for the many gifts that were coming to me daily in my walk， but had gone largely unnoticed because I was too focused on not getting this very specific thing I was praying about。 I’d certainly recommend this book， because I think Sister Wendy Beckett was a incredible gift to the world。 It has an extra level of prescience in light of her recent passing。 She had such a sweet， unassuming way about her that makes even seemingly inaccessible artworks accessible and mineable。 She was a humble teacher and a unique person who found her love and calling as an art historian in a non-traditional way and I think can guide people into a love for God and the arts。 。。。more
Derek Winterburn
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This book was not quite what I was hoping for but perhaps for the right cast of mind it would be very enriching。Sister Wendy writes simply for a few paragraphs about a subject and a painting （ancient or modern， biblical or other）。 The book is themed by weeks: Silence， Contemplation， Peace， Joy， Confidence and Love。 Her style is subtle and bears rereading a few times。 The weakness of this book for me is that for a spiritual book it stays 'earthbound'， it is largely a mulling over of human experie This book was not quite what I was hoping for but perhaps for the right cast of mind it would be very enriching。Sister Wendy writes simply for a few paragraphs about a subject and a painting （ancient or modern， biblical or other）。 The book is themed by weeks: Silence， Contemplation， Peace， Joy， Confidence and Love。 Her style is subtle and bears rereading a few times。 The weakness of this book for me is that for a spiritual book it stays 'earthbound'， it is largely a mulling over of human experience - with the the divine only implicit。 I think the picture serves her message rather than starts it， which is probably sound， but contrary to how most people might want to read a book like this （look a painting， reflect on it oneself and then read another's comments）。 。。。more
Barbara
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Wonderful readings for Lent
Paul Taylor
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Nice collection of paintings， not so sure about the text。
Linda
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I'm reviewing this book， even though I have not finished reading every page/devotional yet。 A small book， about 5" x 5"， with a painting and a short devotional for each day， this is a book you can easily leave out in the living room。 I plan to have this little book out for Lent each year now。 I'm reviewing this book， even though I have not finished reading every page/devotional yet。 A small book， about 5" x 5"， with a painting and a short devotional for each day， this is a book you can easily leave out in the living room。 I plan to have this little book out for Lent each year now。 。。。more
7jane
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Another fine book to use when going through Lent， this book is full of great paintings （mostly Western）。 Each painting is accompanied by a short commentary; after first four paintings， the rest are arranged into themed weeks， ending with Easter Day。 The paintings vary: from traditional to modern， some clearly religious and some not， some very colorful and some very plain。 But all pack inside great moods， and fit well into the collection and the theme of Lent。 It is a short book， but very easy to Another fine book to use when going through Lent， this book is full of great paintings （mostly Western）。 Each painting is accompanied by a short commentary; after first four paintings， the rest are arranged into themed weeks， ending with Easter Day。 The paintings vary: from traditional to modern， some clearly religious and some not， some very colorful and some very plain。 But all pack inside great moods， and fit well into the collection and the theme of Lent。 It is a short book， but very easy to treasure and use， both during Lent and outside it。 。。。more
Ruth Innes
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