Holy Trinity & the Power of Art

El Greco, was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. His works contains a mixture of influences from all three places he resided in (his Greek homeland, Italy and Catholic Spain). The mystical spirituality subsumed in his works is most notable, especially with the Holy Trinity. It is one of a kind, since he never painted another picture of this theme or subject after. You can refer to painting above blog title or below.

Trinity @ Crucifixion

Enchanting, is it not? Before your very eyes, you have El Greco’s creation of the Holy Trinity. To some, the Trinity may be the most difficult aspect of Christianity; idea that three equals one. It basically consists of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Out of the three, did you notice that Jesus is the only one with a human body? I also noticed that his body is laid at an awkward angle. The rest of the painting comprises supernatural visions. In my opinion, the faces of the angels surrounding Jesus, and God look like melted wax from a candle. Overall, the painting is depicting the crucifixion of Jesus, where he sacraficed himself and ascended into heaven to save mankind from sin. Jesus’ body is laid in the arms of God himself, who is visibily broken and grieving over the loss of his son as well as the angels surrounding the both of them. Overhead, there is a dove symbolizing the presence of the Holy Spirit. I personally think it was a genius idea to use the vibrant yellow to represent the sunset. But after giving it much thought, it is not a sunset, rather the glorifying heavens sending its radiance over the scene. With dark, gloomy colors at the bottom of the painting and then bright radiating colors at the top, this change in mood gives his viewers something to look forward to which is Jesus’ second coming and the company of God’s love. All good things must come to an end, which El Greco portrays through this painting of the Holy Trinity. The journey of Lord Jesus Christ into heaven has begun.