The ‘Visual Commentary On Scripture’ Is Changing How We Read The Bible
The Bible is by no means a picture book. But, for its lack of illustrations, it still presents many powerful images: A burning bush. A giant fish. An angel army. A pillar of fire.
The Bible seizes the visceral realities of what it means to be human — in all that gore, grief and glory — by connecting its ideas and its characters to natural elements we interact with daily, even if, in some cases, those elements are acting in miraculous ways.
So, to bridge this gap between the descriptions of the world found in scripture and our physical experience of it, we have artwork. Christian artwork has spanned every generation of believers, with Christ himself being depicted through a multitude of ethnicities, time periods and artistic mediums.
But is “Christian” artwork the only art through which Christians can see reflections of Scripture? Ben Quash, Director of the “Visual Commentary on Scripture,” doesn’t think so. The “Visual Commentary on Scripture” is an online resource from King’s College London which combines theology, art history and Biblical scholarship to pair artwork from all across the stylistic and historical map with scripture.
These pairings are called exhibits and feature high-quality scans of art pieces tied together with Biblical commentary. The artwork included is created by household names such as Picasso, Van Goh, Caravaggio and Rembrandt in addition to artists with a smaller footprint.
After over a decade working on the project, Quash is taking a step back. He was interviewed on our podcast six years ago when the project was still relatively young. As his time ends with the project, he now talks through what he accomplished, why the internet needs the “Visual Commentary on Scripture” site and what’s next.
The site is accessible at thevcs.org. The project also has a new newsletter called Bible and Art Daily, which will send artwork and an audio scripture commentary straight to an inbox. You can also find them on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X.
Matthew Peterson is Religion Unplugged’s podcast editor and audience development coordinator. He took part in this past summer’s European Journalism Institute held in Prague, an annual program co-sponsored by The Media Project.