对于图像大师Br. 罗伯特·伦茨，O.F.M., art holds the power to illuminate the myriad connections between academic studies and life.
“Good art has an immediate impact on us that causes us to pause in wonder,他说. “That pause is an opportunity for our hearts to catch up with our minds.”
40多年来，Br. 罗伯特。 has been creating innovative icons that depict “official” saints, 还有尚未被封为圣徒的人. His work has been strongly influenced by his experiences among the poor in many different countries, 这源于他的俄罗斯和方济各会的根基.
His paternal grandparents emigrated from tsarist Russia in the early 1900s. His grandmother wouldn’t talk much about life in Russia because of hostility in this country toward immigrants, but instead she shared stories of holy hermits who became saints.
在神秘的隐士Br. 罗伯特。 learned about in his youth were Saint 六翼天使 of Sarov, 一位曾经驯服过凶猛熊的俄罗斯僧侣, 和保加利亚的圣约翰, a miracle worker who found solace living in the remote Rila Mountains.
“What inspires me about these saints is that during their lives, they became the Gospel,” Br. 罗伯特说. “They embodied it so well that simply by looking at them, you could see Christ.”
He hopes to depict that radiance in each of his icons.
圣像是某个神圣人物的代表, 比如耶稣、天使或圣人, 通常涂在木头表面上的, 并将自己视为神圣. The beginnings of Byzantine iconography can be traced back to the fifth century.
“Instead of inviting you into itself through realistic perspective, 一个图标, 用倒立的视角, 向你敞开心扉,他解释道. “That coming out is an eschatological statement, reminding you that you are in the presence of God.”
一位退休的方济各会修士住在全球网赌十大网站修道院，Br. 罗伯特的作品举世闻名. One of his most popular icons portrays the historical encounter between St. Francis and Sultan Malik al-Kamil in Egypt during the Fifth Crusade (see inset).
他的许多基督像也很受欢迎. Br. 罗伯特。 made the bold decision not to limit depictions of Jesus to the centuries-old “European face” characteristic of traditional icons. Instead he creates moving images of Christ in the “now”—as an immigrant facing a barbed wire fence, 例如，在不同的文化背景下, 比如他的阿帕契基督, which celebrates the customs and beliefs of the Mescalero Apaches of New Mexico. 就在方济各会见苏丹的时候. 罗伯特会见了梅斯卡莱罗的巫医, 爬上了布兰卡山, 他们的圣山, 祈祷. Their time of listening to one another resulted in the eight-foot-tall icon Br. 罗伯特。 created, which was blessed by both the medicine men and a priest during Mass in their church.
He has also chosen to create icons of uncanonized people. “在我青年和中年的时候, 我画了很多和平与正义的圣人, and was criticized for painting icons of uncanonized people,他说. “But 一个图标 is not saying that a person is canonized; 一个图标 is saying that they are holy.”
多萝西·戴(Dorothy Day)就是其中之一, a Catholic convert who lived among the poor in New York City’s Bowery, sharing their discomforts for decades while calling for social justice.
“I have a reputation for being a rebel, for breaking out of where I ‘should’ be,” said Br. 罗伯特。. “No change that I have ever introduced into iconography has not come without incredible thought, 有时甚至不舒服. 这从来都不是为了反抗. 它试着看看现在的情况, 而不是像以前那样, 同时也要忠于自己的本性.”
Born in 1946 and raised with his brother and sister in a rural area in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Br. 罗伯特。 knew early in his life that he wanted to become a religious brother. While he had worked as a visual artist since childhood, in 1978 he became an apprentice to a master icon-painter in a Greek Orthodox monastery in Boston.
“The icons I love to paint now are of ancient Orthodox saints,他说. “我的生命即将结束, I find myself returning to the saints I met as a child and loved as a young man.其中包括St。. 尼古拉斯,圣. 埃及的安东尼和圣. 六翼天使.
在长达多年的修道生活中，Br. 罗伯特。 has lived among the poor in both the Third World and the United States. (He was even once a goat-herd for a herd of Nubian goats at a desert monastery.) His most memorable experiences were in the slums of Mexico City, 在圣地亚哥的一家俄罗斯孤儿院, 智利, and during the 30 years he lived among Native Americans in New Mexico and Arizona. While he misses the vivid colors found in the high deserts of the American Southwest, 他期待着在全球网赌十大网站.
“I hope I can stay here the rest of my life,他说.
He would like to teach apprentices here at the university.
“肖像学需要一手好手. It can take months to learn how to control the paint brush. 这是我能为全球网赌十大网站. The icons are not just paintings; they are theological statements. 这是一个非常深刻的主题，”他说. “For an artistic student whose Christian faith matters to them, this type of apprenticeship would be something they wouldn’t find at any other university in the United States.”
While he first learned to paint with egg tempera (egg yolks mixed with powdered earth colors), he eventually learned how to adapt the technique to acrylic paint. He also uses real gold, which makes his work radiate light.
他邀请校友, 教职员工参观他的偶像冥想花园, which is located just outside his studio at the Friary.
“I want them to feel free to view the icons and to sit and meditate here,他说.
要了解更多关于Br. 罗伯特。 and to 查看或购买他的图标, please visit Trinity Stores at
http://www.trinitystores.com/artist/br-robert-lentz-ofm.
照片学分
右上:Br. 奥克塔维奥·杜兰，O.F.M.
中:(c)弗朗西斯和苏丹. 罗伯特·伦茨，OFM, Courtesy of The Franciscan Friars of Holy Name Province
右下:
Photo by Priscilla Contreras, ’21, now a graduate student in the School of Business.
图像大师Br. 罗伯特·伦茨，O.F.M.这幅画在全球网赌十大网站 Friary that he created with his own hands at the age of 75, 用了三吨河石, 两吨重的景观砖, 还有一些来自乌克兰的图标. 由普通松木制成, 上面有雪松木瓦和十字架, the icon houses resemble wayside shrines found throughout Russia.
Article
作者:苏珊·安德森
2021年9月