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  2. Creation

Creation

In theological terms, creation is both an action of God, and the result of that action. Creation is all that has been made: human and non-human; sentient and non-sentient. The word ‘creation’ denotes the earth, and the larger universe of which it is part. But creation also names the free divine initiative which has summoned that universe into being and declared ‘it is good’. The exhibitions that follow explore both aspects of the word, as well as the way that Christianity proclaims the renewal of creation, beginning on the morning of the resurrection.

The Creation from the series Illustrations of the Bible by John Martin
Baptistry window in Coventry Cathedral by John Piper and Nicholas Patrick Reyntiens
"The Division of the Light from the Darkness," illustration III, in the book Genesis from the Bible (Soho, London: The Nonesuch Press) by Paul Nash

Genesis 1:3–5 Let There be Light

The Nebra Sky Disk, by an unknown artist
Peapod with ten biblical scenes, by an unknown German artist
Fossil Necklace, by Katie Paterson

Genesis 1:6–23 The Heavens and the Earth

The Creation of the World, Endpaper from Wittenberg Luther Bible of 1534 by Lucas Cranach the Younger and Monogrammist MS
The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarroti
Tapestry of Creation (The Girona Tapestry) by Unknown artist

Genesis 1:24–31 The Sixth Day of Creation

The Garden of Eden, by Thomas Cole
The Garden of Earthly Delights Triptych by Hieronymus Bosch
Carpet, by an unknown Persian artist

Genesis 2:9–17 The Garden of Eden

Adam in the Earthly Paradise, diptych valve from the Carrand Diptych by unknown artist
Adam Naming the Animals, detail from the Creation by Unknown Venetian artist
Adam in Paradise by Unknown artist

Genesis 2:18–20 Adam Naming the Animals

Adam and Eve, from The Sarajevo Haggadah, by and unknown Spanish artist
Rebecca 1, by Elena Dorfman
Inner Light I, by Liliane Lijn

Genesis 2:21–25 Woman, the World’s First Idol

Behemoth and Leviathan from Illustrations of the Book of Job by William Blake
Leviathan by Anish Kapoor
God Wants His People by Trevor Makhoba

Job 40–41 Behemoth and Leviathan

Psalm 92 [93 MT] from Utrecht Psalter by Unknown artist, Reims/Hautvillers
Psalm 93 by Bernard C. Winter
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt van Rijn

Psalm 93 Over Troubled Water

Animalia Rationalia et Insecta (Ignis): Plate XI by Joris Hoefnagel
Animalia Rationalia et Insecta (Ignis): Plate XII by Joris Hoefnagel
Animalia Rationalia et Insecta (Ignis): Plate XIV by Joris Hoefnagel

Psalm 145 All Creatures Great and Small

The Visitation by Unknown Cypriot Artist
The Visitation by Pontormo
The Visitation by El Greco

Luke 1:39–45 Quickening Creation

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More Exhibitions

General Resurrection from the Bamberg-Eichstätt Psalter by unknown German artist
Sarcophagus of Theodore by Unknown Italian artist
The Resurrection, Cookham by Stanley Spencer

1 Corinthians 15:35–58 Bodily Resurrection

Yellow Crucifixion by Marc Chagall
Christ appearing to Saint Peter on the Appian Way (Domine, Quo Vadis?) by Annibale Carracci
The Last Judgement by The Last Judgement

1 Peter 4:12–19 Finding Meaning in Suffering

The War in Heaven (pane 7g), part of The Great East Window of York Minster
Saint Michael and the Devil by Unknown Spanish Artist
The Fall of the Rebel Angels by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Revelation 12:7–12 War in Heaven

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