Gospel in Art: Look, there is the lamb of God!

Lamb of God, Agnus Dei, by Francisco de Zurbarán, 1635 © Prado Museum, Madrid

Source: Christian Art

Gospel of 3 January 2024
John 1:29-34

Seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, 'Look, there is the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I spoke of when I said: A man is coming after me who ranks before me because he existed before me. I did not know him myself, and yet it was to reveal him to Israel that I came baptising with water.'

John also declared, 'I saw the Spirit coming down on him from heaven like a dove and resting on him. I did not know him myself, but he who sent me to baptise with water had said to me, "The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is going to baptise with the Holy Spirit." Yes, I have seen and I am the witness that he is the Chosen One of God.'

Reflection on the painting

We have often heard the words 'Lamb of God' and we say these same words at every mass. But what does it actually mean that Jesus is the Lamb of God? As always, all the names of God that are mentioned in the Old and New Testaments provide important information about who God is. Animal sacrifices are found all throughout the Old Testament. These blood offerings acted as a temporary covering for sin. The main passage to look at is Leviticus 4:35: 'They shall remove all the fat, just as the fat is removed from the lamb of the fellowship offering, and the priest shall burn it on the altar on top of the food offerings presented to the Lord. In this way the priest will make atonement for them for the sin they have committed, and they will be forgiven'.

So the main purpose of animal sacrifices was sanctification and forgiveness: to put ourselves 'right' again with God. These various sacrificial practices in Jewish culture often involved lambs. Lambs are known for their attractive white coats, and white is a symbol of purity and cleanliness. The soft woolly texture is symbolic of God's kindness and gentleness towards us. This is why John the Baptist in today's reading calls Jesus the Lamb of God: he was pure, free of sin, gentle and his ultimate sacrifice brought salvation to the world.

Our painting by Francisco de Zubaran shows a white coated lamb on a grey table against a contrasting background. The Merino lamb is between eight and ten months old, the time for a new life to grow inside a mother's womb. Alive, it lies with bound feet in an unmistakably sacrificial posture. Its legs are thrust into the foreground and its eyes avert our gaze. There is no other iconography in this painting. Nothing else to distract us. So we are left with only the heartbreaking sense that the poor lamb is resigned to its sad fate. Between 1631-40 Zurbarán painted five versions of this Agnus Dei for private patrons, with slight iconographic variants. Yet, it is the unadorned version (the one illustrated above) that is considered the finest of the five.

LINKS

Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's Reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/john-1-29-34-2024/