When Western art incorporates the East

 


Antonio Jose Rubi

Before I would like to start the article, I would like to admit, as a Latin Catholic who attends the Latin Mass, I also admire the Byzantine Liturgy of John Chrysostom. I was exposed to the Byzantine Rite at a young age, when I read a book on St. Basil's Cathedral, and the Our Mother of Perpetual Help Icon. I could have attended an Eastern Catholic liturgy, but most are compromised with Vatican II.

Look at this painting. It is a depiction of an 18th century western European art depicting the East and the Orient. The painting shows Empress Catherine of Russia, attending the conversion of Louis of Baden, the wife of her grandson, the future Tsar Alexander I in the Byzantine Russian Orthodox Church. Alexander’s father Paul is also attending the ceremony. What makes it strange is that Western European art, rarely depicts the East, as in the case, the Byzantine Rite, instead focusing on Baroque style art. The Eastern Orthodox bishops, priests and clerics, and one Orthodox nun look very strange in the painting. This shows how it was very rare for Western European art to depict the East and the Orient, although, Western artists depicted Ottoman Turkey, but not the Eastern rites of the Church. As I love to draw cartoons and take Disney as my inspiration, it will also be strange for Eastern Rite clerics to be depicted in my Disney style stories, like ‘’The Archimandrite’’ set in Russia, and ‘’The Princess of Plovdiv’’ set in Bulgaria. To be far, Disney style traditional animation has never depicted an Eastern Rite, especially the movie Anastasia (1997) which was supposedly about the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, but never even featured the Russian Orthodox Church.

Conclusion:

The same applies with the illustrations for my upcoming story Alejandro and Catalina, a 17th century Cebuano couple. The illustrations are based on Disney style, but it is also strange that Catholic priests and bishops make an appearance, something less heard in Disney shows because of their secularism.


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