Art Imitates Life


Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee was and English Victorian painter who was born in 1853 in London, England.  

During his life, England was ruled by Queen Victoria and then King Edward VII.  Because of that, Dicksee was used to seeing the opulence and luxury that royalty often enjoyed.  In fact, when Edward visited the Near East and India in 1882 as a prince, he returned with large quantities of jewelled arms and armour. 

As a king, Edward was well known as a lover of good food and wine, clothes, racing, gambling and ladies.  Perhaps he was the model for Dicksee's painting shown here. 

In the painting, a king is seen returning home from a journey.  He sits atop his white horse which wears a mantle of gold coins.  His armor and crown are gold and bejewelled.  

While flags wave about him, a woman throws petals from a balcony, while another tosses them to the street before his horse - and all eyes are upon His Majesty as he rides into town.

Except.

Except...

His Majesty's eyes are looking toward his left where he sees another King.  One with a crown of thorns on His head. 

Perhaps in this moment the King realizes that no amount of gold or riches, fandom or adoration will make him as joyful, humble, or grateful as the King on the Cross.

"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.  For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.  For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.  I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.  I want to suffer with him, sharing his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead." - Philippians 3:8-15

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