Friday, April 5, 2013

New version of an old icon: Elijah and the little cloud rising from the sea.

 
Apparition of the Virgin of Mt. Carmel to the Prophet Elijah.
Terry Nelson, 2013
acrylic and gold on 11 x 14 panel.

I've painted the same event in the past, but this time I added the servant who informs the Prophet of the 'little cloud rising from the sea' as well as more vegetation to suggest Mt. Carmel as garden.  The vine at the feet of Elijah suggests the Blessed Virgin's title 'vine blossom laden' as well as the order of Carmel, which traces it's roots to Elijah and the ancient hermits of Mt Carmel.

3 comments:

Paul Stilwell said...

This is glorious. I also love the emphasis and tension added by the servant. I keep gazing at it because of the visual contraction - between the Old and the New - an icon within an icon.

Glory to God in highest!

bill bannon said...

Very beautiful piece. Elijah raised a person from the dead as did Eliseus. But he killed 552 so I guess you could say he was a minus 551 in that area...not really :) in the killings, he was really acting in concert with God since in two cases, he called down lightning from heaven and God complied. Prior to grace through Christ, most men needed fear of the Lord as predominating in their minds just as Pope Nicholas V wrote that most men need grandiose buildings like St. Peter's even after grace...to help their faith.

Terry Nelson said...

I just checked comments - thanks guys for the kind words.

Anonymous - you can reach me at

tj dot nelson at hotmail dot com