Last Friday, Angie and I had a rare opportunity to spend a day without our kids. After Gideon and Alice were dropped off at school, we went to the Detroit Institute of Arts to see the Van Gogh in America exhibit before it left town.
The sold-out exhibit was packed with people, wall to wall; this, as it turned out, made it easier to see the rest of the DIA’s exhibits with very little traffic.
As I made my way through the various exhibits, I came across a reproduction of one of the most controversial paintings in art history, the Salvatore Mundi (Savior of the World). This painting (pictured to the right) was attributed to Giampetrino, an Italian painter from the studio of Leonardo Da Vinci — the master, a.k.a. the GOAT.
The original Salvatore Mundi, if there truly was an original was, for generations, thought to be lost to the world. There were several indications, based on numerous drawings by students and followers of Da Vinci, that the original might be out there somewhere.
Long story short, a painting of Salvatore Mundi was purchased at a New Orleans auction, on a whim, for a little more than $1,000. It was over-painted and in poor condition, so certainly the chances of it being the lost original were very slim. But, for that price, it was worth a shot.
Following the purchase, there was a painstaking (and incredibly expensive) two-year process of stripping away layers of old varnish and paint that obscured the original composition. The goal of this process, which took months, was to uncover signs of “the master” which were not obvious.
This made me think of the things in my life, and in all of our lives, that can sometimes hide our true composition — what the master intended us to be. All of us were made in the image and likeness of God — the creator, indeed, the master. There are so many things that are not of God that can “overpaint” that which is at the core of who we are as Christians. These are the things that make it difficult for others to see the work of the master.
It could be a toxic relationship, an unhealthy love of money or failure to show hospitality to all people. It could be an inability to let go of hurt someone has caused you, or an inability to own up to the hurt you’ve caused another. There are so many things build up over time, layer upon layer.
Restoration is a wonderful thing and, to one extent or another, we are all in need of it. We should all seek to better ourselves and to, like my grandpa would always say, “live in a way that is pleasing to God.”
Fortunately, as we are all works in progress, I can share with you this bit of good news that Jim Pope shared with me many years ago. It was a quote from one of his favorite authors, Brennan Manning:
“God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be.”
When the beholder is God, each one of us is beautiful; each one of us is a work of the master.
Years after its restoration, the Salvatore Mundi was sold at auction for around $80 million dollars. And years after that, the price went up to $400 million dollars — all while art historians all over the world still disagreed on its authenticity.
Fortunately, there’s no debate here. As I see it, there are signs of the master all around us and, indeed, within us. Thanks be to God!
The Pipe 