A good example of an image or painting that uses light symbolically is a painting by Greg Olson of Jesus Christ reading from the prophet Isaiah in his hometown of Nazareth. Humans have always been awed and curious about the nature of light. Clarence John Laughlin once said, “One of my basic feelings is that the mind, and the heart alike… must be dedicated to the glory, the magic, and the mystery of light.” Scientifically light is made up of partials called photons that could act individually or could be combined to form energy waves. In the western culture light has been depicted as pure and even holy. That is why most often priests wear white, or saints are depicted as having halos made of light surround them. This symbolism can be seen through the image as Jesus is glowing in light compared to his surrounding. But light does not simply represent only purity, different spectrum of light can convey different feelings to us. An example of this could be the torches that are burning overhead. Even though they are giving off light it is of a different sort that Jesus is producing. The light of the torches seems somehow darker and has more colors such as read and orange mixed in. These added colors dilutes the light and further reinforces the image of pure Jesus. The fact that the light seems to be flowing through him could be the artist’s interpretation of us needing Jesus so that he could bring Gods light to us through him.
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