You are invited to the Tuesday Night Lights talk series: Faith and Art: A Conversation on Beauty and the Sacred. Each Tuesday evening, we’ll welcome a different artist or art expert from within our congregation to explore the meaningful intersection between art and spiritual life as they share their stories and lead a conversation. Come for some evenings or join us for them all, and step into a space where stories, questions, and shared reflections can awaken our sense of wonder, stir our hearts with beauty, and renew our hope in a broken world.
Questions? Contact Pastor Earl at PastorEarl@uumc.org.
About Jeff Smith
I had the privilege of living in Europe, mostly in Brussels, as a teenager. I became fascinated by the medieval and early modern culture (800-1700 CE) and by artists such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder. That experience set me on the road to a Ph.D. (Columbia University) and ultimately a long career teaching Northern European art at the University of Texas from 1979 to 2023, when I retired. I held the Kay Fortson Chair in European Art from 2000-2023. I had the opportunity to travel in Europe with my graduate seminar students and to lecture around the world. My writings have focused mainly on German and Netherlandish art as well as on issues of religious culture.
A Q&A with Jeff Smith
What would you like to share with us in your talk?
As an art historian, I am fascinated by the power of art to communicate with various audiences over time. I am intrigued by the question of why people make art. Since I work on the historical culture of northern Europe between about 1350 and 1700, religion and the debate about religious art were central subjects. Much pre-Reformation art was created for churches and private devotional use. Luther, Calvin, and others challenged Catholic beliefs about the efficacy of art in aiding one’s salvation. Luther, at least, recognized its pedagogical benefits. As a teacher, I enjoy getting students and others to think about societies where art was one of the most powerful means of learning about faith.
Could you give us a brief preview of the talk you’ll be giving on Tuesday?
I’ve selected Rembrandt’s Return of the Prodigal Son as a vehicle for thinking about the deeper meanings and the human dramas of this story. How did Rembrandt translate the biblical account into, at least for me, a moving drama of human emotions and love. I’ll ask the participates to think about each of the “actors” in this painting. I shall also offer a bit of context about Rembrandt’s own life when the picture was made in the later 1660s.
Have you had the opportunity to see the painting in person? What was your impression?
I’ll be discussing Rembrandt van Rijn’s Return of the Prodigal Son painting. The original owner is unknown. Since Catherine the Great purchased it in 1766, the picture has been in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. I had the opportunity to see it in 2017 when I was invited to give a talk at the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg. It is an incredibly impressive painting.
What does this painting mean to you in relation to your faith journey?
Most of what I know about religion and faith has been learned from my years of teaching and research. Even if one is skeptical about some claims (eg. the Virgin birth, Mary’s Assumption, the Trinity), art allows you to begin to understand how others, especially in past centuries, thought about these matters and how such beliefs impacted their spiritual journeys. I find deep humanity in certain art works, like this painting by Rembrandt, as the art grapples to find meaning and expression in a particular story.