给儿子的话 #2 奉献

关于奉献

若不是基督徒，不必奉献；

若不明白了解，不用奉献；

若不甘心乐意，不要奉献。

神所喜爱的奉献 «歌林多後書9:7»

寡妇的奉献 «馬可福音 12:41»

亚伯拉罕献以撒 «創世記 22:1-14»
活祭 «羅馬書 12:1»

Renaissance Art - The Last Supper ( Il Cenacolo ) 1495-1498

The Last Supper

Artist : Leonardo da Vinci,  1452-1519

Date : 1495-1498

Medium : fresco-secco

Dimensions : 460x880cm

Current Location : Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy

The work is presumed to have been started around 1495–96 and was commissioned as part of a plan of renovations to a Dominican monastery in Santa Maria delle Grazie, by Leonardo's patron Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan. 

The painting represents the scene of the Last Supper of Jesus with his apostles, as it is told in the Gospel of John.  Leonardo has depicted the consternation that occurred among the Twelve Disciples when Jesus announced that one of them would betray him.

All twelve apostles have different reactions to the news, with various degrees of anger and shock. The apostles are identified from a manuscript (The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci p. 232) with their names found in the 19th century.

From left to right, according to the apostles' heads:

Bartholomew¹, James², son of Alphaeus, and Andrew³ form a group of three; all are surprised.

Judas Iscariot⁴, Peter⁵, and John⁶ form another group of three.

Apostle Thomas⁷, James⁸ the Greater, and Philip⁹ are the next group of three.

Matthew¹⁰, Jude Thaddeus¹¹, and Simon¹² the Zealot are the final group of three.

Judas Iscariot⁴ is wearing green and blue and is in shadow, looking rather withdrawn and taken aback by the sudden revelation of his plan. He is clutching a small bag, perhaps signifying the silver given to him as payment to betray Jesus, or perhaps a reference to his role within the 12 disciples as treasurer.  He is also tipping over the salt cellar. This may be related to the near-Eastern expression to "betray the salt" meaning to betray one's Master. He is the only person to have his elbow on the table and his head is also horizontally the lowest of anyone in the painting.

Peter⁵ looks angry and is holding a knife pointed away from Christ, perhaps foreshadowing his violent reaction in Gethsemane during Jesus' arrest.

The youngest apostle, John⁶ , appears to swoon.

Thomas⁷ is clearly upset; the raised index finger foreshadows his incredulity of the Resurrection.

James⁸ the Greater looks stunned, with his arms in the air. Meanwhile, Philip⁹ appears to be requesting some explanation.

Both Jude Thaddeus¹¹ and Matthew¹⁰ are turned toward Simon¹² , perhaps to find out if he has any answer to their initial questions.

Renaissance Art - The Last Supper ( Tapestry ) 1500s

Probably the world’s most recognizable painting, the Last Supper has been copied, referenced, or reproduced as painting, mosaic, embroidery, tapestry etc.

The tapestry found in the Vatican Museum was made in a Flemish workshop ( a region occupied today by parts of Netherlands, Belgium and France ) in the early  1500s.  It was presented by King of France, François I to Pope Clement VII in 1532.

It is now displayed at Room VIII of the building of Pinacoteca, Vatican Museum.

Orientalism Art - Judas se pend 1886-1894

Judas Hangs Himself

(Judas se pend)

Artist : James Tissot, French, 1836-1902

Medium : Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper

Place Made : France

Dates : 1886-1894

Dimension : 11 7/8 x 6 1/8 in. (30.2 x 15.6 cm)

Location : Brooklyn Museum, NY, USA

Matthew 27

1 Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. 2 So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

   “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

 5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

 6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, 10 and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

Renaissance Art - The Sacrifice of Abraham 1636

The Sacrifice of Abraham

Artist : Rembrandt van Rijn. 1606-1669

Date : 1636

Material : canvas

Technique : oil

Dimensions : 195x132 cm

Current Location : Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany

Note :

This painting was started by one of Rembrandt’s students. 

At some point, Rembrandt took over and finished it.

The composition and figures are similar to the  1635’s The Sacrifice of Isaac.

Renaissance Art : Sacrifice of Isaac 1635

 The Sacrifice of Isaac

Artist : Rembrandt van Rijn. 1606-1669

Place : Holland

Date : 1635

Material : canvas

Technique : oil

Dimensions : 193x132 cm

Current Location : The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of his faith (Genesis, 22: 1-13). Abraham set out to carry out the command, proving his belief, but God sent an angel to stay his hand just as he was about to sink the knife into his son's body. 

Rembrandt captures all the the dramatism of the culminating moment in this terrible intended sacrifice. Abraham's amazement as the angel stops him with hand raised is revealed in his expressive gesture and the strong expression of his face, which almost borders on madness. 

We see a moment of great emotional tension, expressed in dynamic forms and lines. The heightened dramatism, monumental form, turbulent movement, sharp contrasts of light and shade are typical of Rembrandt's works of the 1630s and reflect in this painting the features of the Baroque style.

St George's Church, Georgetown (1818)

St. George's Church is a 19th-century Anglican church in the city of George Town in Penang, Malaysia. It is the oldest purpose built Anglican church in South East Asia and is within the jurisdiction of the Upper North Archedeaconry of the Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia.

St George's Church (built in 1816) is the oldest Anglican church in South East Asia.  After the British East India Company took possession of the island of Penang in 1786, the spiritual care of the colonists was effected by Church of England chaplains attached to the EIC. Early religious services were held at the chapel of Fort Cornwallis and later at the Court House located opposite the present church building.

Proposals for the building of a permanent church were submitted as early as 1810 but was only acted upon after the passing of the East India Company Act 1813 whereby the EIC received a 20-year extension of its charter. Approval was obtained in 1815 to build the church based on the architectural plans drawn up by Major Thomas Anburey but the church was eventually built on the plans drawn up by the Governor of Prince of Wales Island (as Penang was known then), William Petrie, and modified by Lieutenant Robert N. Smith of the Madras Engineers. Smith was a colleague of Colonel James Lillyman Caldwell, the chief architect of St. George's Cathedral in Madras, and the architecture of St. George's Church is believed to be based on the cathedral itself.

Amongst those consulted on the building of the church was the Rev. Robert Sparke Hutchings, the Colonial Chaplain of Prince of Wales Island. Hutchings would later be instrumental in setting up the Penang Free School. The building was completed in 1818 while Hutchings was still away in Bengal and church services were officiated by a Rev. Henderson. The church was consecrated on 11 May 1819 by the Bishop of Calcutta, Thomas Fanshawe Middleton.

The first significant event that took place in the church after its completion was the wedding of the Governor, William Edward Philips to Janet Bannerman, the daughter of his predecessor, Colonel John Alexander Bannerman on 30 June 1818.

The building was significantly damaged during the Japanese occupation of Malaya and a lot of her interior fittings were looted. Services were not to be held in the church until repairs concluded in 1948.

The church is built with a combination of Neo-Classical, Georgian and English Palladian architecture styles. Built entirely by Indian convict labour, it was built of brick on a solid plastered stone base.

The church features a portico of Doric columns. The original roof was flat but was converted to a gable in 1864 as the original flat roof was found to be unsuitable in the tropical climate. The apex of the roof is topped by an octagonal shaped steeple.

A memorial pavilion was erected in 1886 in memory of Sir Francis Light during the centenary celebration of the founding of modern Penang.

On 6 July 2007, the church was declared one of the 50 National Treasures of Malaysia by the Malaysian government. It underwent a major restoration in 2009.

All Saint's Church, Taiping (1886)

All Saints Church in Taiping is the Federated Malay States' first Anglican church, founded in 1886 (consecrated in 1887).

Located on Taming Sari main road, the church features a timber facade and gothic architectural design, with a small adjacent cemetery. Its cemetery is laden with beautifully crafted tombstones of European settlers and young servicemen who did not make it home.

It is considered one of Malaysia's precious heritage sites

The history of the church can be traced from 1883 when Col. R.S.F. Walker presided over a meeting to arrange for funds to be collected to pay for the stipend of a clergyman.

Designed by Australian architect D. Lefroy and built on a site donated by W.V. Drummond, a planter from Shanghai, the wooden church structure is made of meranti panels with hardwood frames, and a louvred tower with four tubular bells.

All Saints Church remains largely unchanged from the early days of its existence. Perhaps the most striking feature of the church is the stained glass window installed in 1911, which survived World War II intact.

All Saints is among only a handful of churches in Malaysia that still use the pipe organ. It is only used on special occasions and the servicing alone costs about RM10,000 annually.

Over the years, the church has undergone some repair work with the most recent restoration effort including the replacement of its leaky roof with Berlian Shingle wood from Sarawak. The new roof is a replica of the original structure.

A new multi-purpose hall was scheduled to be completed in 2008, with toilet facilities, administrative office, choir rooms, library, vicarage quarters and main hall that can accommodate about 350 people.

The church is currently in the midst of setting up a network to locate relatives of those buried at the All Saints cemetery.