Christianity Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for committed Christians, experts in Christianity and those interested in learning more. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I am not a Christian, so please excuse my Philistinism if I'm missing the obvious, but ever since I saw this painting on my Grandma's wall I've been intrigued by it. Particularly the standing stone in the foreground and by the odd little stare Jesus seems to give it.
Question: Does anyone know if there's any deeper (Biblical) meaning to it?
"Christ in the Desert", Ivan Kramskoy, 1872
From the title of the picture, I feel it is safe to assume the author had this in mind:
Matthew 4:1-4
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The stone is so oddly standing in order to stick out. Otherwise it wouldn't be Jesus staring at a stone, it would be Jesus staring.
All so called Christian art is Biblically based; and is intended to induce some reflection of some event in Biblical History otherwise it would not be Christian art. Even going back to the old Masters, much or even most of their artworks were based on their concept of some event from the Bible.
The picture you asked about along with many other paintings are symbolic and are intended to elicit contemplation on the part of the viewer. As to what that painting refers to in the Bible is mostly an association within the mind of the viewer.
One person might be reminded of the temptation of Christ when Satan said turn these rocks into bread while another person might be reminded of the aloneness of Jesus and that he was like no other man who ever walked the earth. The more connotations that a painting can induce in it's viewers the better.
The painting itself readily identifies itself with Jesus in it's title and for my part it represents many facets of Jesus life on earth. His loneliness, his deep concentration, among many others.
And although it most likely will be deemed off topic I felt it necessary to give you this explanation even though I will be called down for answering an off topic question.
On the present level, it is the temptation to turn stone into bread.
And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. Luke 4:3
But on the future level, there's a valley of sorts between Christ and the stone. There's also an obvious round rock between the valley and upright stone. Jesus is looking past the valley of the shadow of death to and past the stone rolled away from the tomb to the time when men's hearts of stone are turned by Christ the living bread to lively stones.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. John 6:51
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5
