James Ensor: The Entry of Christ into Brussels (1888)

James Ensor: The Entry of Christ into Brussels (1888)

From time to time, I intend to post, and occasionally discuss in some detail, some of my favourite works of art, given an interest in art history that goes back many years, kindled by an inspirational teacher in Grade 4 in Beaconsfield, Quebec. My first such post continues the religious theme that has been the focus of my blog since the recent death of Pope John Paul II.

Ensor's "Entry of Christ" is one of the masterworks of late-19th century expressionism. Aesthetically, I will let it speak for itself. However, I find it to be of particular relevance at the present time and in the context of the recent papal election. Cardinal Ratzinger assumed the name Benedict, largely in memory of Saint Benedict (c.480-547), the founder of the Benedictine Order and, as such, very much the force behind Christianity's successful conversion of Europe in the early Middle Ages. Ratzinger may have chosen the name Benedict for any number of reasons and to send any number of implicit messages, but the most obvious (and likely) one is that he intends to focus at least some of his attention on Europe's slide into secularism, a trend that he clearly sees as one of the most significant crises facing the Church. At a recent talk at Subiaco, where Saint Benedict founded his monastery (at Monte Cassino), then-Cardinal Ratzinger said that "Europe constitutes the most radical contradiction, not only of Christianity but also of the religious and moral traditions of all humanity". Then, just hours before the start of the conclave, at a special mass held at St. Peter's, he declared that "[w]e are moving" towards "a dictatorship of relativism... that recognizes nothing definite and leaves only one's own ego and one's own desires as the final measure." As E.J. Dionne put it in The Washington Post: "Those are fighting words." Whether Ratzinger was right or wrong, and to what degree he may have been both right and wrong, is another matter for another time. Suffice it to say here that prior to his election he took some unflinching shots at modernity -- or, perhaps more accurately, at post-Nietzschean late-modernity (now generally known as postmodernism). Although he (as Pope Benedict XVI) has since moderated his speech and reached out as a less combative conciliator, his entrenched opposition to the forces of modernity sweeping through Europe (and well beyond) is well-established. It may even come to define his papacy.

Think of that when you look at Ensor's painting. There's a connection to be made.