Gospel in Art: Dives and Lazarus

Dives and Lazarus © Sotheby's London

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 25 September 2022
Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said to the Pharisees: 'There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast magnificently every day. And at his gate there lay a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even came and licked his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.

'In his torment in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in his bosom. So he cried out, "Father Abraham, pity me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames." "My son," Abraham replied "remember that during your life good things came your way, just as bad things came the way of Lazarus. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony. But that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to stop anyone, if he wanted to, crossing from our side to yours, and to stop any crossing from your side to ours."

'The rich man replied, "Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father's house, since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too." "They have Moses and the prophets," said Abraham "let them listen to them." "Ah no, father Abraham," said the rich man "but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent." Then Abraham said to him, "If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead."'

Reflection on the painting

Like all of Jesus' parables, today's story of Dives and Lazarus is telling us a material story to convey a spiritual truth. We are told of two people living side by side, a rich man in his great house and a poor man at the gate of the house. They almost cover the same space on earth, yet there was a very big divide between them. One lived in the house, the other outside; one was rich, one was poor; one had everything, the other looked for scraps, etc…

It is a story where we are encouraged to look after each other, especially when we inhabit almost the same physical space. Especially in our big cities we are called to look after each other, particularly after the homeless. It is easy to insulate ourselves in our own little worlds, but this parable is asking us to enter the world of the other!

Our artwork is a Flemish painting after Jacobo Bassano. Jacobo was the most famous of a family of painters from Bassano in the Veneto. He specialised in painting realistic, expressive scenes. What we have here is a Flemish interpretation of Bassano's style. There is plenty to look at in this domestic scene. The dogs are licking the poor man's wounds. He is looking at a lavishly dressed table displaying the most luxurious food. In the left half of the painting we see the kitchen with all the ingredients and the staff needed to produce the exquisite food. One scene but three different worlds: the rich man, the poor man and the kitchens. Jesus invites us to cross the threshold into the world of the other, into the world of those who are very different from us, so we may become more generous and tolerant towards each other.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/

Today's reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-16-19-31-2022/