Picture in Focus: Divine Mercy II by Martinus Sumbaji

March 26, 2023

Picture in Focus: Divine Mercy II by Martinus Sumbaji

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5. KJV)

Indonesian Artist Martinus Sumbaji redefines Passion portraiture in this ferociously colored acrylic painting of the Crucified Christ. Influenced by modernist art-makers as diverse as the Expressionist, Francis Bacon, and Street Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sumbaji has created a genre-defying, abstract image of the Man of Sorrows, viewed amid instruments of his Passion like the nails, the crown of thorns, and a T-bar cross and Eucharistic emblems like a grape cluster, chalice, and communion wafer. Lines of text crisscross the canvas like graffiti sprayed on a wall. You can make out the Latin words for JESUS OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS from the sign at the top of the Cross, the text of John 14:6 ("I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life") and the painting's title, DIVINE MERCY. (John Kohan)