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  1. Themes
  2. Prayer and Faith

Prayer and Faith

Faith, Jesus teaches, can move mountains (Matthew 17:20). But faith is not some easy human accomplishment. Rather, it is a divine gift, which is perhaps why the prayer that Jesus himself taught his disciples is all about asking for what we do not have and for what we cannot accomplish in our own strength. The Latin precare (‘to pray’) is also at the root of the word ‘precarious’. The exhibitions here explore the struggles and challenges as well as the triumphs of faith.

Abraham Caressing Isaac by Rembrandt van Rijn
Wooded Landscape with Abraham and Isaac by Jan Brueghel the Elder
Sacrifice of Isaac, from Commentary on the Pentateuch, part 2 by Joel ben Simeon

Genesis 22:1–5 The Journey to Moriah

Book of Job, Plate 17, The Vision of Christ by William Blake
Book of Job, Plate 11, Job's Evil Dreams by William Blake
Book of Job, Plate 18, Job's Sacrifice by William Blake

Job 42 Opening the Doors of Perception

Jonah and the Whale by Pieter Lastman
Jonah by Lorenzetto
Jonah and the Whale, folio from a Jami al-Tavarikh (Compendium of Chronicles) by Unknown Iranian artist

Jonah 2 Jonah and the Whale

Tobias burning the Heart and the Liver of the Fish by Cornelis Cort [attrib.] after Maerten van Heemskerck
Life of the Young Tobias by Francesco Granacci [attrib.]
Episodes from the Story of Tobit Unknown French artist

Tobit 8 One Wedding and No Funeral

The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt van Rijn
The Annunciation by Unknown Byzantine artist
Temptation in the wilderness, flanked by the Esau selling his birthright, and the fall, from Biblia Pauperum by Unknown Netherlandish artist

Matthew 6:9–15; Luke 11:1–4 The Lord’s Prayer

Bride by David Jones
Wheatfield with Crows by Vincent van Gogh
Tulips in a Vase by Paul Cézanne

Matthew 6:16–34; Luke 12:22–34 Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God

The Widow’s Offering, from an Arabic manuscript of the Gospels by Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib
The Widow's Mite Behind the Soldier's Might⁠—A Liberty Bond by Unknown American artist
The Widow's Mite (Le denier de la veuve) by James Tissot

Mark 12:38–44; Luke 20:45–21:4 Widow’s Mite

Henry Ford Hospital by Frida Kahlo
The Visitation by Master Heinrich of Constance
Alison Lapper Pregnant by Marc Quinn

Luke 1:46–56 Magnificat, The Song of Mary

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary by Johannes Vermeer
Christ in the House of Martha and Mary by Diego Velázquez
Agony in the Garden by Fra Angelico

Luke 10:38–42 Jesus Visits Martha and Mary

'Jackson Pollock in 1950' by Hans Namuth
Dance (Dance II) by Henri Matisse
Wall of Light Sky by Sean Scully

John 17 A Consecration Prayer

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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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