My painting, Virgin Sacrifice, is featured in a new exhibition called The Art of Sacrifice at Altered Esthetics Gallery in Minneapolis, MN. The show opens Sept. 7th and will run until Sept. 27th. I will post a link to a slideshow of the exhibition after the opening reception. Please read my artist's statement below for more information about the painting, which is from the series Resonance and Relevance, a collection of paintings referencing Biblical stories, themes, and scripture.
Virgin Sacrifice, Oil on canvas, ”19 x 54”, 2007
Virgin Sacrifice tells the Biblical story of a young , unnamed girl who became the victim of an unnecessary vow made by her father. In the Old Testament book of Judges, Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor who was called upon to lead the Israeli army against the people of Ammon.
Although the Bible says the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah to win the battle, he still wanted to make a deal with God to ensure his victory:
“And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s and I will offer it up as a burnt offering” (Judges 11:30-31).
It is obvious that Jephthah had been influenced by the customs of the pagan cultures around him because in Deuteronomy God had already condemned the ritual of human sacrifice. This showed Jephthah’s incomplete knowledge of or blatant disregard to the Law of Moses.
“When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying , “How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods” (Deut. 12:29-30).
The story goes on to say that the Lord delivered the people of Ammon into the hands of the Israelites and Jephthah went home victorious. When he arrived home, there was his daughter -- his only child, coming out to meet him with timbrels and dancing. When he saw her he was sickened as he remembered his vow. When he told her of her fate she naively accepted it because she trusted in the wisdom of her father. Her only request was that she be allowed to go with her friends to wander on the mountains and bewail her virginity. At the end of the two months she returned to her father and he carried out his vow -- a totally unnecessary sacrifice to a God of whom it was not required.
Nothing more is written about this tragic story except that it became a custom in Israel that the women went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite. The painting is a alarming reflection of how we often fall victim to our own self-induced pain. We inflict physical and emotional injury upon ourselves and others, leaving deep wounds that could have easily been avoided.
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