Luke 1:57-66 | Pontormo | Time came for Elizabeth to have her child

Luke 1:57-66   Time came for Elizabeth to have her child

The Birth of John the Baptist,  Painted by Pontormo (1494-1557), Painted in 1526, Oil on Panel, © Uffizi Gallery, Florence The time came for Elizabeth to have her child, and she gave birth to a son; and when her neighbours and relations heard that the Lord had shown her so great a kindness, they shared her joy. Now on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother spoke up. ‘No,’ she said ‘he is to be called John.’ They said to her, ‘But no one in your family has that name’, and made signs to his father to find out what he wanted him called. The father asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they were all astonished. At that instant his power of speech returned and he spoke and praised God. All their neighbours were filled with awe and the whole affair was talked about throughout the hill country of Judaea. All those who heard of it treasured it in their hearts. ‘What will this child turn out to be?’ they wondered. And indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.   READ MORE     Reflection on the Small Tondo Painting Today we are looking at this small, charming tondo depicting the Birth of St John the Baptist. A ‘tondo’ is a term used for a renaissance work of art of circular shape. The word derives form the Italian word rotondo which means round. Pontormo, who had Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) as a teacher, was a Mannerist painter. Where High Renaissance art emphasised proportion, balance, and ideal beauty (such as we see in his teacher da Vinci’s work), Mannerism exaggerated such qualities, often resulting in compositions that are asymmetrical or unnaturally elegant. We can see such Mannerist characteristics in our painting: the female standing figure on the left is long and elongated; the seated man writing down has too large a lap to write on, almost forming a desk. The sole biblical account of the birth of John the Baptist comes from the Gospel of St Luke, which is today’s reading. So, it is special.  Luke stresses how God is fulfilling his plans through human beings who collaborate. Elizabeth, Zecheriah, Mary, Jospeph, all collaborating in a most generous way to be fully instrumental in the fulfilment of God’s plan. In Luke’s understanding of salvation, what God plans will eventually be fulfilled! Especially the last line of our Gospel reading 'What will this child turn out to be?’ is a fascinating question, showing how the crowds were reacting. To put it in a bit of historical context, the Jewish people had heard in the temple for over 400 years that the Messiah was coming. They knew the scriptures well. They understood that someone would come to precede the Messiah, and they were wondering if this was him. Was John that man who precedes Jesus? It is good that they were asking themselves that question, as if it was fully clear that John was that person, then such an awareness by the people would have created a dilemma for them. Because if the ‘world’ would know that he was destined for greatness, they would have treated him in an unnatural reverend way, circle him, hail him from a young age, etc… So the fact they were left wondering is good and would have helped John grow up in quite a normal way. Same as we see with Christ, born in a humble family and raised in all quietness, stillness and away from the crowds…. before bursting into ministry and changing the world! by Patrick van der Vorst