The cover of the month

Joachim von Sandrart was born in 1606 in Frankfurt, to a ­family originally from Hainaut in Northern France. After Dürer, he is indisputably the greatest painter of the German school. In this important work, which was designed to serve as a retable, the artist closely follows the account of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles, starting with the description of the assembly that was gathered: All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren (1:14).

Sandrart depicts at the centre the Virgin Mary receiving a tongue of fire that is clearly dedicated to her. But shouldn’t the Mother of God be considered as already filled with the Holy Spirit because of her Immaculate Conception? In the past, the ­question was much debated by painters. Nowadays the Catechism of the Catholic Church answers in the affirmative: “For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men” (CCC 721). “It was fitting that the ­mother of him in whom the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col 2:9) should herself be ‘full of grace’. She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin” (CCC 722). Mary can therefore be ­considered full of the Holy Spirit from the moment of her conception. However, most painters, advised by theologians, thought that the Virgin Mary should be depicted as receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Indeed, the fact that she was full of the Holy Spirit from her conception would not prevent her from receiving additional, specific outpourings for particular missions. The angel’s promise at the Annunciation, The Holy Spirit will come upon you (Lk 1:35), bears witness to this. It is fitting therefore that painters show the Virgin Mary participating fully in the foundational event of the Church: Her presence is vital to Pentecost, because she has a unique place at the birth of the Church: she is its Mother (see Lumen Gentium 8).

The picture is composed around the diagonal drawn as the dove of the Holy Spirit bursts from a cloud. The projection of his blessed light testifies to the powerful wind that manifests him. In the background the monumental but aged wall suggests the wall of the temple of Jerusalem: the New and Eternal Covenant will fulfil the Old one. Below, two steps indicate that right away the disciples will be prompted to descend to the outer court of the Temple, to render an account there of the hope that was in them.

Sandrart skillfully shows the supernatural dimensions of the event by the way he personalises the gestures and expressions of the figures. The postures and the physiognomies of the apostles are unfailingly eloquent: one sits to find in Scripture the prophecy and the interpretation of the event; another with his arm ­upraised seems to be a living Veni Sancte Spiritus (“Come, Holy Spirit”); his neighbour holds out his open hands to receive God’s gift; this one is praying with his hands folded; that one, struck by the fear of God, hides his face in his hands... Sandrart was one of the greatest portraitists of all time; we should not fail to admire also the subtle art with which he was able to harmonise the expressions on the apostles’ faces with their postures.

The most imposing figure in the assembly, Saint Peter, is depicted carrying the book of Scripture wide open, to symbolise his own vocation to be the supreme pastor and doctrinal ­authority. His face is turned toward the source of the tongues of fire; his expression is of one listening, reverently and in awe, to instructions of the utmost importance: You shall be my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the world (Ac 1:8b).

Pierre-Marie Dumont

Pentecost, Joachim von Sandrart (1606–1688), Lambach Abbey, Austria. © Arthotek / La Collection.