Joy Lasts: On the Spiritual in Art

by Wendy Beckett

Sister Wendy Beckett is one of the best-known art historians in the world today. Here, she explores her reactions to a painting that she finds uniquely the haunting Christ on a Cross by El Greco. As she candidly admits, "I have always had trouble in talking about religious art."
This surprising admission leads her to examine the very nature of religious and spiritual art, which, Sister Wendy argues, are not at all the same thing.
In the course of her discussion she takes a careful look at fourteen works by artists ranging from anonymous medieval masters to Paul Cézanne, in whose still lifes she finds the expression of a deep spirituality. The art of Correggio, Rubens, Millet, and others helps Sister Wendy arrive at a new
understanding of just why it is that this particular El Greco painting speaks to her so profoundly.
Joy Lasts is a remarkable personal statement from one of the best-loved contemporary guides to the meaning and experience of art.

Genres: Art, Christianity

56 pages, Hardcover

First published April 10, 2006

About the author

Sister Wendy Beckett was a South African-born British art expert, Roman Catholic nun, and contemplative hermit who became an unlikely celebrity during the 1990s, presenting a series of acclaimed art history documentaries for the BBC.

Reviews

[Abigail Olsen]

A short little book, essay with pictures really, about how to think about religious art. It was my first read of anything from Sister Wendy Beckett and I'm looking forward to more. I especially enjoyed the last pages when she talks about interpreting art: "All too many of us are excessively humble in front of art, fearing to make fools of ourselves if we are unable to see the virtue of one piece or the faults of another...It is the waiting, the seeking, the refusal to pretend, that matter."