Angry and wonderful
Alfonso Ossorio was born in 1916 to wealthy parents Maria Paz Yangco and Miguel Jose Ossorio, who owned a large sugar refinery on the island of Negros in the Philippines. He was given a strict religious upbringing, schooled in the best places money could buy, and later went on to make his way as an artist. Many years later, he was commissioned by his parents to return to the island of Negro and create a mural in the Chapel of St Joseph the Worker at which the refinery labourers worshipped. His mural, depicted below, met with a very mixed reception, with the artist himself saying that people at the time “loathed it”.
Image: t2.gstatic.com
Years later, with the sugar refinery’s fortunes waning, and the chapel in danger of falling into disrepair, it was visited by a journalist from LIFE magazine, who dubbed it ‘the chapel of the angry Christ’, and its fortunes were reborn.
How would you feel looking at this image on a Sunday?
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April 18, 2011 at 1:12 pm
Changing Worship
I’d love to look at that image on a Sunday.
April 18, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Art vs The Church « Changing Worship
[…] Richard Littledale asks an interesting question on his blog about this piece of art by Alfonso Ossorio. He wanted to know “How would you feel looking at this image on a Sunday”? As you can see, this is a mural placed behind the altar in a church. As the Eucharist is celebrated this image dominates the scene. Personally, I love it. It conveys such vivid imagery and deep theological meaning. I wonder if I could find a good quality image of it for use on Easter Sunday Morning. […]
April 18, 2011 at 10:11 pm
Jennifer
Funny, when I looked at this painting, it didn’t shout ‘angry’ at me at all, it shouted Holy Trinity – God’s hands, the Holy Spirit in the heart of Jesus – and I really really like it. Is it named ‘Angry Jesus’? I could look at it for hours and hours. So alive, so vibrant.
April 19, 2011 at 7:09 am
preachersa2z
Thanks for your comment. The colours…and the image, really jump out at you, don’t they? You can read an interview with the artist here: http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/alfonso-ossorio-interview-5517
February 11, 2022 at 12:40 am
Art vs The Church – Robb Sutherland
[…] Richard Littledale asks an interesting question on his blog about this piece of art by Alfonso Ossorio. He wanted to know “How would you feel looking at this image on a Sunday”? As you can see, this is a mural placed behind the altar in a church. As the Eucharist is celebrated this image dominates the scene. Personally, I love it. It conveys such vivid imagery and deep theological meaning. I wonder if I could find a good quality image of it for use on Easter Sunday Morning. […]