The feast day of St Bartholomew

Creating a good still life image for the month of August was a bit difficult. Eventually I took my inspiration from the St. Bartholomew's day massacre. St. Bartholomew was one of the original 12 diciples of Jesus, also known as the Apostles. I the year of 1592, and in the country of France, the day saw a targeted group of assasinations and Catholic mob violence directed against the Hugenots. Hugenots were Calvinist protestants, and this signaled the beginning of the fourth Hugenot war in France. The background is a replica of the flag of France, but not the modern one. Instead it is the flag of the Ancien Régime, the time when France was a heraditary monachy. The flag was selected in order to draw attention to not only a geographic area, but a distinct period of time as well. The tablecloth is also green, as a symbol telling that this is a day in the common time. The attributes of Bartholomew the Apostle are a knife, and hes flayed skin. According to legend, he become a Martyr for Christianity by skinned alive and beheaded. This has in the Catholic church made him the patron saint for: tanners, shoemakers, and other people who works with leather and leather products. This inspired the pile of leather in the center of the image, with the knife lying on top of the 95 theses by Martin Luther. The crown is placed on the left side of the image, signaling that at the time the protestant monarchs were considered radical, and the papal cross is of cause to the right telling the story of a conservative papacy. The ideas of a political left and a political right did not appear until the French Revolution in 1789, but neither was this image. It is designed for modern people, who understand the political terms used. This is also an image that tells a story of religious conflict and strife. It shows that religion has two sides: some people religion makes into very generous and caring, some use religion as an excuse for demanding power over their neighbors. The first kind of people often makes art, teaching, cooking and medicine their domain. The other kind tend to go into crusades and other forms of religious violence. Religion has clearly two sides: one beautiful, and one ugly, We all should remember this...