The Names of the Apostles Part 5

“The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. ”

— Revelation 21:14

The Colours of the Foundations of the Walls of the New Jerusalem

I painted the colours of the wall foundations for the New Jerusalem, but before I could go on, I needed more research into the names of the twelve apostles, which will be on each foundation.

In my research, I found different parts of Scripture had different lists of apostles! This is too important to get wrong, so I dug deeper before painting the names. Some New Testament authors listed Thaddeus as one of the Twelve, while others listed Judas Son of James. It wasn’t unusual for the apostles to have more than one name—Simon Son of Jonah was renamed by Jesus, as Peter, the rock. But I couldn’t paint both names—which was it? I discovered that while Thaddeus was mentioned in several places, Judas Son of James was only mentioned by Luke in his books, which were written later. So the name Thaddeus seems the most likely to be in the tribute.

As I mentioned in my previous post, http://www.joancthomsonart.com/blog/2020/4/16/the-names-of-the-apostles, I settled on Matthias as Judas Iscariot’s replacement, rather than Paul of Tarsus since Matthias was numbered among the Twelve and Paul never was.

The Names of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus printed and ready for transfer to the canvas.

I chose to use Luke’s order since he told us about Matthias, the newest addition to their number.

The first layer of gold—in ink.

I printed the names from my computer and traced them onto tracing paper and from there, onto the canvas, Peter the Rock, on the first or bottom foundation then followed the list upward with Matthias at the top.

The letters were too fine for the gilding I had planned so I painted each one with a fine brush. Since I’m left-handed, I found that turning the names (and the canvas) vertically helped me reach them without smearing. The first layer was in gold fibre-tipped marker so I could see the letters better as I painted. Then two layers of gold iridescent paint (at least). A final coat of a lighter gold iridescent paint gave it extra beauty.

The finished painting. The Foundations Joan C. Thomson Acrylic on Canvas

As I painted, I thought about all these men gave up to be in Jesus’ inner circle; they all reportedly suffered horrendous persecution, with all but John dying a violent death (though the Romans did try). Oh but what they gained—a close up look at the coming of the Kingdom of God to earth, the Son of God in person! They were trained by God himself to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” What a privilege! As I painted their names, I thanked God for these men, who  passed on to us this Good News of Jesus coming to pay the price for our sin and inviting us to be a part of God’s family. The Twelve will be greatly honoured. What an honour to paint this tribute.

All the Colours of the Wall--New Jerusalem Foundation Part 3

“The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. ”

— Revelation 21:19,20 NIV

Twelve colourful stone foundations for the walls of the New Jerusalem—detail of painting by Joan C. Thomson

Progress!  All the gem colour “stripes” for the wall foundations in the New Jerusalem (in my painting series) along with their gold “mortar” are painted.  I’m struck with how contemporary the colours look.  Gorgeous!  Imagine the light of the glory of God shining through the stones and reflecting off them.  

I’ve also painted the detail of the bits of “gold” (pyrite) on the lapis lazuli or “sapphire” foundation.  Looking at pictures of the various stones on the internet was helpful but better still, is seeing the real stones.  I was pleased to find three of the stones at our local German Christmas Market: chrysoprase, carnelian and lapis.

Chrysoprase, carnelian and lapis lazuli—three of the stones in the wall foundations of the New Jerusalem.

Jasper, according to Pliny the Elder—a first century historian, was green. Sapphire was the name for lapis lazuli though the other stones seem to have kept their names.  There are different versions of the stones on the internet—and in various Bible translations, but I’ve tried to stick close to the literal Greek words and their meanings (biblehub.com).

Faceting of gemstones didn’t begin until much later, so it’s likely that the Apostle John saw smooth, highly polished stones.

With this series of paintings, I’m hoping to provide a glimpse into what this heaven-coming-to-earth looks like but even the best image falls short of seeing the real thing in person.  The New Jerusalem is the place that Jesus has prepared for those who follow him—believing is seeing.

The next stage in this painting will be to add the names of the apostles—one on each foundation colour, in gold leaf.

““Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

— John 14:1-3

The Colours of the Foundation Part 2

The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. Revelation 21:18-20 NRSV

View fullsize

New Jerusalem Wall painting process first four foundations

Amid a flurry of year-end paperwork, I’ve been diligently exploring how to paint the colours of the foundations of the New Jerusalem walls—and painting them. I wanted to attempt to capture the luminous qualities of light glowing through and bouncing off this variety of precious and semi-precious stones.

Since this body of work is largely abstract or abstracted realism, I chose to represent the “adorn[ing] of the walls with every jewel,” with a stripe in each gemstone colour. To create the appearance of translucence, I mixed a little of the paint colour with acrylic glazing medium, building layer upon layer, varying the brushstrokes for visual texture of crystal formations in some of the gems. However, the character of paint being what it is, not all colours, such as red-orange and yellow lend themselves to transparency. Some of the stones themselves, such as lapis lazuli (sapphire) are entirely opaque.

View fullsize

New Jerusalem Wall Foundations Painting Process

It’s a joy to watch the vibrant colours emerge—what a combination! The majority in any one colour are a version of green—four out of twelve, so it seems that the answer to the age-old question of God’s favourite colour is green. According to Pliny the Elder, a writer and historian of the first century, jasper was green—the entire wall above the foundations is jasper. Sometimes different sources have different colours for the same stone and some, like beryl can come in red, yellow, blue or green, as in emerald; emerald is already the fourth foundation so the eighth—beryl, can’t be the green one. We’ll see.