Gospel in Art: Martha works; Mary listens

Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, by Diego Velazquez, 1618 © National Gallery London

Gospel of 17 July 2022
Luke 10:38-42

Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered: 'Martha, Martha,' he said 'you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.'

Reflection on the painting

Immediately after the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke shares this story of Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary. We are told that Mary chose listening to the teachings of Jesus rather than helping her sister prepare food. In this painting by Velazquez, we see Mary sitting at Christ's feet listening to Jesus' teaching in the background scene. Christ is shown as a bearded man in a blue tunic. He points his fingers at Martha, the woman standing behind Mary, rebuking her for her frustration.

Martha, on the other hand, painted as the main protagonist in this story and firmly put in the foreground, is seen preparing food in the kitchen. Her cheeks are red, her look is rather sad, and her wrinkled puffy cheeks, all show that she is upset and frustrated. Martha, so depicted twice (one in the background, once as the maid in the foreground) cannot bring herself to look directly at the biblical scene behind her in her house. She looks instead directly at us, almost meditating on the implications of the story, which for the Christian contemporary audience at the time would have conveyed the traditional message that the vita contemplativa (spiritual life) was more important than the vita activa (temporal life)--not that the latter was inessential of course… Martha's looking directly at us, invites us straight into the story.

She is pounding garlic in a mortar, and other ingredients lie scattered on the table: fish, eggs, a shrivelled red pepper and an earthenware jug probably containing olive oil. There has been much speculation about who the older woman on the left might be. She is pointing, so may be giving Martha instructions about cooking or maybe even telling her off for being distracted and prompting her not be upset with Mary. Who knows?

Ok and now for you readers who enjoy cooking!… The ingredients in front of Martha are to prepare a meal for Lent, a meatless one: fish, two eggs, garlic, peppers, a jug of oil. Scholars found a 17th-century Spanish cookbook that seems to show the very dish Martha is cooking: fish fried in olive oil, with sautéed onions, peppers and pimiento, topped with eggs. Food historians think that the garlic being crushed in the mortar is to make aioli…

LINKS

Christian Art: www.christian.art
Today's Image: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/luke-10-38-42-2022/