Read about my inspiration and ideas behind the art, as well as a few details about how I made it. I depict Christ in a royal robe and upon his head a crown fashioned from thorns. He wears payot - side locks or curls of hair. The tradition of Jewish men not cutting the hair on the sides of the head goes back to a time long before Christ. Usually we see the crown of thorns looking like dead and dried thorns. This may be accurate – it may not. Considering that Roman soldiers made the crown, I suspect that the crown looked a little different than its usual depiction. That is why I have leaves in the crown of thorns. I shall explain. I think the soldiers would have left some leaves on the freshly cut native branches/vines that they used to make the crown of thorns on that springtime day. Their reference would have been Roman crowns. Consider some of those crowns. The civic crown was made of oak leaves. There was another crown made from olive leaves. And we have all seen the portrayal of the distinguished ancient Roman wearing a green laurel wreath. But I wish to talk mostly about the grass crown.
I embarked upon a historical study of Roman crowns and discovered an amazing thing.
Read about my inspiration and ideas behind the art, as well as a few details about how I made it. I depict Christ in a royal robe and upon his head a crown fashioned from thorns. He wears payot - side locks or curls of hair. The tradition of Jewish men not cutting the hair on the sides of the head goes back to a time long before Christ. Usually we see the crown of thorns looking like dead and dried thorns. This may be accurate – it may not. Considering that Roman soldiers made the crown, I suspect that the crown looked a little different than its usual depiction. That is why I have leaves in the crown of thorns. I shall explain. I think the soldiers would have left some leaves on the freshly cut native branches/vines that they used to make the crown of thorns on that springtime day. Their reference would have been Roman crowns. Consider some of those crowns. The civic crown was made of oak leaves. There was another crown made from olive leaves. And we have all seen the portrayal of the distinguished ancient Roman wearing a green laurel wreath. But I wish to talk mostly about the grass crown.
Read about my inspiration and ideas behind the art, as well as a few details about how I made it. I depict Christ in a royal robe and upon his head a crown fashioned from thorns. He wears payot - side locks or curls of hair. The tradition of Jewish men not cutting the hair on the sides of the head goes back to a time long before Christ. Usually we see the crown of thorns looking like dead and dried thorns. This may be accurate – it may not. Considering that Roman soldiers made the crown, I suspect that the crown looked a little different than its usual depiction. That is why I have leaves in the crown of thorns. I shall explain. I think the soldiers would have left some leaves on the freshly cut native branches/vines that they used to make the crown of thorns on that springtime day. Their reference would have been Roman crowns. Consider some of those crowns. The civic crown was made of oak leaves. There was another crown made from olive leaves. And we have all seen the portrayal of the distinguished ancient Roman wearing a green laurel wreath. But I wish to talk mostly about the grass crown.
THE GRASS CROWN
The grass crown was a rare and most prestigious Roman crown. It was presented to the military leader that broke a blockade around a Roman army under siege, saving it from destruction. It was made from grass, wild flowers, and other flora that were gathered from the very spot of land where the army was besieged. Here is a quote from the Roman historian Pliny, who wrote about the grass crown in his book, Natural History:
To repeat, the grass crown was made out of the flora (or plants) that was gathered from the very spot where the army was besieged. They placed that crown on their savior’s head. It is amazing to me that this historical fact could be such a precise metaphor for a doctrinal truth in Christian theology. Read this from Genesis, chapter 3, verses 17-19:
Metaphorically speaking, the above text describes the very spot where humanity was… besieged by sin, by evil. Humanity previously sinned and at this point was facing the consequences. We commonly refer to this part of the “Fall” as the curse. Satan was cursed. Woman was cursed. Man was cursed. Understand that it is NOT that God was punishing the wayward. God was just explaining the consequences of their actions. For the sake of brevity and precision, I am skipping over the curse of Eve and the fallen angel we call Satan.
THE CURSE OF MAN
Because of man, “cursed is the ground”. The earth itself is cursed. The words “in sorrow shalt thou eat of it” tell us that we exist in sorrow and actually feed from what is cursed all the days of our life – I think this refers to the spiritual, as well as the physical. Because of the curse, from the ground come “thorns also and thistles”. Things that prick us and things that we cannot eat… even choke us. Thorns and thistles threaten our harvests. Clearly, this has profound spiritual applications as well, as does the words “in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread”. So we see that the text speaks of an immense struggle to survive, physically… and spiritually. From the spiritual perspective, the thorns and thistles can refer to ideas from other religions that actually hinder our communion with God. Or this can refer to scientific ideas like the Big Bang Theory and evolution in their traditional forms (but some details of these theories seem sound and compliment my understanding of God). The thorns and thistles can even represent ideas against God that we come up with individually. In our strenuous efforts to harvest an understanding of God and creation, there are the troublesome metaphorical thorns and thistles. Of course, we end up losing our physical and spiritual struggle to survive, and our bodies “return” to “dust”. Is there any hope?
But as for the crown of grass, it was never conferred except at a crisis of extreme desperation, never voted except by the acclamation of the whole army, and never to any one but to him who had been its preserver. Other crowns were awarded by the generals to the soldiers, this alone by the soldiers, and to the general. This crown is known also as the "obsidional" crown, from the circumstance of a beleaguered army being delivered, and so preserved from fearful disaster. If we are to regard as a glorious and a hallowed reward the civic crown presented for preserving the life of a single citizen, and him, perhaps, of the very humblest rank, what, pray, ought to be thought of a whole army being saved, and indebted for its preservation to the valour of a single individual.
To repeat, the grass crown was made out of the flora (or plants) that was gathered from the very spot where the army was besieged. They placed that crown on their savior’s head. It is amazing to me that this historical fact could be such a precise metaphor for a doctrinal truth in Christian theology. Read this from Genesis, chapter 3, verses 17-19:
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Metaphorically speaking, the above text describes the very spot where humanity was… besieged by sin, by evil. Humanity previously sinned and at this point was facing the consequences. We commonly refer to this part of the “Fall” as the curse. Satan was cursed. Woman was cursed. Man was cursed. Understand that it is NOT that God was punishing the wayward. God was just explaining the consequences of their actions. For the sake of brevity and precision, I am skipping over the curse of Eve and the fallen angel we call Satan.
THE CURSE OF MAN
Because of man, “cursed is the ground”. The earth itself is cursed. The words “in sorrow shalt thou eat of it” tell us that we exist in sorrow and actually feed from what is cursed all the days of our life – I think this refers to the spiritual, as well as the physical. Because of the curse, from the ground come “thorns also and thistles”. Things that prick us and things that we cannot eat… even choke us. Thorns and thistles threaten our harvests. Clearly, this has profound spiritual applications as well, as does the words “in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread”. So we see that the text speaks of an immense struggle to survive, physically… and spiritually. From the spiritual perspective, the thorns and thistles can refer to ideas from other religions that actually hinder our communion with God. Or this can refer to scientific ideas like the Big Bang Theory and evolution in their traditional forms (but some details of these theories seem sound and compliment my understanding of God). The thorns and thistles can even represent ideas against God that we come up with individually. In our strenuous efforts to harvest an understanding of God and creation, there are the troublesome metaphorical thorns and thistles. Of course, we end up losing our physical and spiritual struggle to survive, and our bodies “return” to “dust”. Is there any hope?
THE CURSE WAS HIS CROWN
Even though those soldiers were mocking Christ, their actions are a powerful testimony. They made Christ a… grass crown. To make a crown they used the flora from the spot where we were besieged by sin, the spot of the curse. They used thorns, and more. In this, what they intended to be mockery was actually unwitting high praise and an inadvertent expression of utmost faith. The soldiers were puppets of destiny, and did this in proxy for all humanity. Christ had already won the battle against evil in the Garden of Gethsemane – “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” It was at this point that Christ declared that there was no turning back from his work.Thereafter, humanity bestowed upon him the honor that was due. We crowned the savior with thorns. We mocked him. We beat him. We whipped him. We pierced him. We hung him on a tree. Blood and water flowed. We killed him. Indeed, we crowned him not with thorns alone but with all the sorrowful flora of the curse! Only humanity steeped in sin would treat their king this way. Only a true loving king would accept such an honor.
A few details about the art, Crown of Thorns - Crown of the Curse
I drew this representation of Christ in pencil and painted it in an old version of Corel Paint. I always start with pencil. This allows me to establish textures. I painted the background in water color and then worked on it more in my art program. There I made the background more golden, with my inspiration coming from the backgrounds of old Orthodox icons. I think this is the first piece that I have done where I actually like the digital painting better than the pencil drawing. I settled on a zoom in of the piece. I liked it better for many reasons. I do like how the full sized version shows off the texture of the robe. But the odd hairstyle is somewhat of a distraction to me, even though it is based in authenticity. Below you can see my depiction of the... scarlet purple robe.
Final thoughts related to the art subject:
If Christ saved humanity from the curse, why still then are we and the earth captives to it? We are captives only in the physical and only temporarily. Those of us that have accepted his liberation, he has saved spiritually and eternally. Everyone has a piece of infinity within, our spirit. And the spirit of a true Christian has been freed from any eternal besiegement of evil. This is not symbolism or metaphor. It is real and can be realized here and now. The eternal essence of a true Christian has a place in the kingdom to come. The physical realization of this for all to behold will be at his Second Coming. At that time, Christ shall wear a different crown. And all things then will be in the physical and we will perceive it with our natural senses. And after his Second Coming, we will no longer… return to dust.
Why does he delay his return? That is another subject for another time. Maybe you should ask him yourself, if you enjoy his acquaintance.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
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