Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matthew 7: 16-20, KJV)
During the Lenten season, I will be offering new images of the Passion of Christ from the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection with weekly What's New notes, intended to be contemplative as well as informative. Graphic pieces by East European ex-libris makers illustrating the events of Holy Week will be presented between now and Easter Sunday with biblical texts commenting on their themes. As an introduction to the new series, I'm featuring a tinted lithograph from Czech Printmaker Bohuslav Knobloch, also a noted restorer of religious stained glass, who has conveniently provided us with the scriptural passage above on the subject of good and bad fruit-bearing trees, taken from Christ's Sermon on the Mount. Knobloch adds a Eucharistic dimension to the story by depicting the Crucified Christ as the True Vine shedding his blood into a communion chalice, while nailed to a tree laden with fruit in a field of thorns. The new Czech book plate can be found on the East European Ex-Libris page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. (John Kohan)