The family spent a few days at this inn on the Catskill Mountains during the school break after Easter. It was a nice place. There were several pictures, paintings of the scenery of the area, a still life or two, and the like.
But right outside our room was an outlier, a painting that looked terribly familiar, something like the one above. This intrigued me, for – and memory is a tricky thing – I believe my maternal grandmother had a reproduction of it in her house. Something quite memorable about that representation of Jesus.
Heinrich Hofmann’s religious works are filled with the deep faith that inspired his life and creativity. Painting subjects from literature and mythology, Hofmann (1824 – 1911) is most famous for his paintings of Christ’s life… Before painting any scene depicting Christ, Hofmann would intently study the Bible. He was adamant that anyone who was not moved to their innermost core while painting religious subjects was not capable of the task.
Thing is, I can’t remember if the picture in Grandma Williams’ house was in color, as painted, or black & white, like the one at the inn. Did it include the whole image, or cropped to highlight the Jesus character?
This painting of “The Boy Jesus in the Temple” was so noteworthy that it was photographed by one C.C. (Charles C.) Pierce (1861-1946)
Photograph of the painting…. A young adolescent in white robes is shown at the center of a group of wizened, bearded old men who appear to be appraising him.
In the left foreground, one is seated with at book, two other standing next to him making quizzical gestures. To the left, a fourth man holds his hand to his chin and a scroll on his hip. Farther back a fifth man without a beard can just barely be seen.
Other titles given for this painting are “Christ in the Temple” or “Jesus at Twelve”. The picture file card reads “The scripture passage for this subject is Luke 2:46-47”.
46 After three days they [Mary and Joseph] found him [Jesus] in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
Is this picture familiar to any of you, and, if so, in what version?
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Note: I have been nominated by my buddy Lisa over at Peripheral Perceptions to participate in the Five Photos, Five Stories meme, which simply says I should post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge.
The problem is that almost all my posts are stories and have pictures. So I’m cheating and writing only one new post. And I’m nominating YOU!
As far as I can remember, which isn’t much, I’ve never seen that particular picture before. I have no idea whether that’s because I never saw it, I’ve forgotten it (quite possible!), or if it’s because it has no meaning whatsoever for me now.
Yes! I definitely remember that image in several places. I’m almost certain that was in my Catholic aunt’s big, fancy Bible. It contained a lot of illustrations of classical paintings based on the stories.
I remember that picture in particular because it strongly impacted my view of Jesus. I saw Him as a scholar, teacher and a prodigy, which has been an important image of Him in my adult life.
I purchased this picture and Christ and the rich ruler at a yard sale. My pictures are 15″ X 19″ and are very old. A metal placard on one of the pictures states ” J M Hoffman, presented by Norwood Lodge # 576 F&AM
It would be interesting to analyze what part of Jerusalem society each figure in the painting represents
i have a painting of this.Can you tell me what year it was painted and what if any value it would have.
On bottom of painting in block letters is CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE.
Rosie – it would depend on whether ir was an original or just mass-produced. This page may help: https://www.invaluable.com/artist/hofmann-heinrich-1824-7cvf9cj2nu/sold-at-auction-prices/
I have a framed photo of just the boy Jesus out of this picture… It is very large…picture size inside the matte is 16” x 23 1/2”…frame is approximately 25” x 32 1/2”…and it’s pretty heavy…It is matted with a wooden frame…In the bottom right hand corner it says Copyright 1910 Taber Prang Art Co…The back is cardboard held in by nails with a wire across the back and a “sold” tag…Other than that I don’t really know anything else about this picture…Any more information you may have would be appreciated! Thanks
This hung in the bedroom at Grandpa’s farm where I’d stay for a week or two almost every summer. One night I sat on the high bed staring at it. I knew who it was. Suddenly I had this strong sense of “mysterium trmendum,” all at once realizing the central figure here depicted was somewhere out there still alive, and I could feel this as an awesome certainty.
I remained terrorized and trembling for a few moments, feeling the presence of God, before I quickly ran and turned off the light and jumped into bed.
That was in 1961, and I was ten. I’ve never mentioned this to anyone but years later reading about what Rudolf Otto had to say in “The Idea of the Holy” about ‘numinous experience’ I knew exactly what he meant.
And still do.