#doctors of the law

[artandthebible]

Jesus in the Temple

Artist: Heinrich Hofmann (German, 1824–1911)

Date: 1881

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Few scenes from the youth of Christ are so well known or beloved as Hofmann’s rendition of Luke 2:46-47, Jesus in the Temple. Even Hofmann’s harshest critic judged this painting “the most pleasing among the many representations of the subject.” As with many of Hofmann’s paintings, the narrative is more significant than the representation of a historically accurate setting. Here, only the classical columns and Seal of Solomon on the chair suggest a temple location. Of greater interest are the figures’ characteristics, gestures, and ways in which they interact with the “precocious” country boy from Nazareth.

Hofmann portrays the elders as thoughtfully developed personalities that viewers can relate to and compare with their own spiritual sensitivity. The ethereal beauty of the twelve-year-old Jesus contrasts markedly with the more corporeal, yet exquisitely painted, elders of the Jerusalem temple. In his lifetime many people questioned Hofmann about his model for the boy Jesus. Hofmann responded, “When I read about Christ in the Bible, there arises spontaneously before my fancy a picture of Him which I try to retain and to reproduce - that is my only prototype.” This personal vision of the young Christ resonated with viewers.

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

[sualne]

he's fiiiiine.

[attyrocious]

my hands started hurting in the middle of this maybe he can fix it

[vee-lo0]

Laws not a good doctor

[regicidal-defenestration]

The hard part about being a Doctor Who fan is that it is frequently bad. Don't get me wrong, it's often good too, and even more often it's simply Fine, but christ over these 60 years we've hit some astonishing lows

[jadedchainsaw]

I forgo Marco- FUCK

[pseudopigeons]

had this silly idea of walter white chopper from a discord convo ft traffy as jesse

[isabeauwolf]

Our snow leopard ain't changed a bit! He's still the same adorkable nerdy edgy boy he's always been! Look at that smile!

[minilibrarian]

Morning study ft. Criminal law 📚

[artandthebible]

Christ Disputing with the Doctors in the Temple

Artist: Franz von Rohden (German, 1817-1903)

Genre: Religious Art

Date: 1860's

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Ohio, USA

Christ disputing with the Doctors in the Temple

This is one of the few events from Christ's childhood which is described in the Bible (Luke 2: 41-51).

When he was twelve, he went with his mother and father to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, but on their return to Nazareth they discovered that he had not returned with them. After asking the friends who had travelled with them and failing to find him, they returned to Jerusalem, where they found him in the Temple, disputing with the learned men, who were astonished at his knowledge.

When rebuked by his mother, he replied that they should have known he would be in his Father's house. Thereafter he went back to Nazareth with them and obeyed them.

[halbarryislife]

the caves of androzani (1984) | the giggle (2023)

[wibblyv]

You were seared onto my hearts, Amelia Pond. You always will be.

[wesaier]

Doctor Trafalgar

[dykealloy]

I do love the reverse mirror of law being fundamentally incapable of understanding luffy vs. zoro understanding luffy like the back of his hand. law will slam open the door to the training room and go on a hour-long enraged rant about luffy being reckless and troublesome and utterly incorrigible and how he ultimately just cannot for the life of him wrap his head around why luffy Did That and zoro will listen the whole time silently and as soon as law stops he will answer with like three words that recontextualize everything in an instant. every time it drives law fucking nuts

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

ProPublica and the DNC genuinely think you are so stupid that you can't tell the difference between an abortion and a miscarriage.

fortunately, every single state with an abortion regulation differentiates between those two things in the law. you can find the law, read it, and understand it in the space of 5 to 10 minutes. so can every single doctor in this country.

every woman who has died at the hands of a hospital because they withheld miscarriage care from her was a victim of either incompetence or malice.

not the law.