The Triumph of the Cross,

When I conceptualise and develop a work of art, whether a poem, book or painting, I find it very difficult to know whether it resonate with an audience. Will it move their hearts or put tears in their eyes? Will they feel what I feel? Will they understand it? Or will they feel indifferent and move on?

An artist never really knows… but we live in hope.

In the case of this painting, people frequently tell me it really does move their hearts and minds. I’ve seen tears in their eyes. It was used as the basis of a sermon delivered to large gathering of pastors. People ask me for prints. But I’m still curious about why. Is it the dramatic composition? The visual merry dance of rainbow colours? Or the contrast of haunting light on the ruined temple against the dark clouds?

This commission was, on the one hand, a gift to celebrate the retirement of our pastor of thirty-five years - the Rev Gerald Vanderwert. On the other hand, it was a gift to me, affording me the opportunity to complete a grand work in the style of a classical painting.

Gerald’s family immigrated from Sri Lanka to Australian in the 1960s when he was a teenager. He became our pastor in late 1988 a few weeks before his first daughter passed away aged only seven years. In later years Gerald has enjoyed taking people on tours to New Testament sites in Turkey, including the ruins of Pergamos, a city mentioned in the New Testament book of Revelation.

In Pergamos the ruins of the Temple of Apollo are still an important landmark and tourist site. But when the Apostle Paul walked its streets, the Temple of Apollo was a significant pagan worship site dominating the city. It must have appeared permanent and unassailable to the tiny group of Christians worshipping Christ in their humble houses. Yet today the good news of the cross still shines and God continues to build his church throughout the world, while no one worships Apollo and his temple is a crumbling ruin. Meanwhile, God’s church, built on the rock of Christ, is truly unassailable, for the kingdom of God is not built of wood and stone, but in people who worship God spirit and in truth

To create this artwork I used reference photographs of the current site and cloud formations and a renaissance painting for the foreground figures. I adjusted the perspective to lower the viewers eye level and increase the perception of ruins towering over the landscape. If you look carefully, you can see modern city buildings in the valley, and three crosses on the distant mountain tops.

Contact me if you wish to order a print.