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Fruits of the Spirit: Art from the Heart
Catalogue
Delve deeper with the 'Fruits of the Spirit: Art from the Heart' catalogue
Varied voices, from an artist working in a hospital to a teenage environmentalist walking through the Devon countryside, explore the themes of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self‐control.
Creative response
As part of their creative response to the project, members of the Latent Talent group (working with museum partner The McManus and community partner Tayside Healthcare Arts Trust) produced self portrait videos. This film represents the generosity of sharing of oneself and the portraiture on display in The Arnolfini Portrait and Two Auld Wifies.
This is a YouTube video player. Below the video are the title, view time and description. Below that is a carousel of video thumbnails. Clicking a thumbnail will load and play that video.
Related events
Art and the emotions
Love
25 November 2022
A philosophical discussion exploring the different ways love is represented and experienced in art.
From devotional paintings to modern day rom coms, we seek and celebrate love. But what exactly is ‘love’? How is it represented in our favourite artworks, and can paintings inspire it in us? Some think that love is indefinable, an elusive, magical, even fragile feeling that can be damaged by too much scrutiny. Others assume it is the greatest good. Given the range of relationships that fall under the banner of love – maternal, sibling, friendship, sexual, platonic – it’s no wonder we are confused.
How can pictures help us understand love better? How are artists representing love today? And where might we turn for an unlikely yet satisfying prediction of the role of love in the future? Speakers include Vanessa Brassey, co-director of the Centre for Philosophy and Art; Ayla Lepine, Associate Rector at St James’s Church Piccadilly; Louise Nelstrop, College Lecturer in Theology at St Benet’s Hall, Oxford; and chaired by curator Lucy Dahlsen.
Organised in partnership with The Centre for Philosophy and Art, King’s College London.
Members launch event
7 December 2022
Online
Join Revd Dr Ayla Lepine, curator of the exciting new virtual gallery experience, Fruits of the Spirit: Art from the Heart for an exclusive online guided tour. The exhibition sees nine UK museums, including the Box, Plymouth and the Foundling Museum, London, pair paintings from their collections with National Gallery highlights, such as the Arnolfini Portrait, Turner’s Rain, Steam and Speed, and Monet’s Water-Lilies, and explores themes including joy, peace, and generosity. There will be an opportunity to ask Ayla questions in a live Q&A.
Joy
11 January – 15 February 2023
Ben Uri Museum and Gallery
Visit Ben Uri Museum and Gallery to further explore how ‘Joy’ is representented in art. This exhibition, centred around 'Mornington Crescent, Summer Morning II' by Frank Auerbach, asks where joy is to be found by introducing a range of complementary works from the Ben Uri collection.
Women In Focus: Zine Making and The Gender Gap with Round Lemon
19 January 2023
6-8pm
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Have you ever contemplated our collection through a feminist lens? Join Round Lemon on a journey through art history as they broach the subject of the gender gap and address how Women artists are represented in art galleries.
This evening event will include a short discovery tour inspired by Women artist icons in the Barber’s collection, followed by guided zine making and discussion around the gender gap in the arts. By looking at the ground-breaking works of artist’s such as Maria Tassaert, Elizabeth Vigée LeBrun, Marguerite Gérard, and Tess Jaray, we can discover new perspectives and attitudes on art made by Women displayed in traditional art spaces.
Unleash your feminist voice through collage as we make responses to our discussions in solidarity - work made at this event will be transformed into our digital zine edit to be used as a resource in the galleries.
Curatorial introduction
30 January 2023
1–1.45pm
Online
Fruits of the Spirit: Art from the Heart, is a pioneering virtual exhibition from the Art and Religion research strand at the National Gallery. Highlighting paintings as diverse as Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait and Claude Monet’s Water-Lilies from the collection at Trafalgar Square alongside German Expressionist and contemporary art from a wide range of UK collections, 'Fruits of the Spirit' encourages dialogues through art which span different historical and geographical periods and cultural perspectives.
In this talk, the 2021–22 Ahmanson Research Fellow in Art and Religion and curator of the exhibition, Revd Dr Ayla Lepine, introduces the show. The session will be delivered online in spoken English with automated closed captions available.
In-focus session: Love
14 February 2023
4–5pm
Online
Join Revd Dr Ayla Lepine, Ahmanson Research Fellow in Art and Religion 2021–22, for an in-focus consideration on the theme of Love, from the exhibition Fruits of the Spirit: Art from the Heart.Taking Titian’s The Virgin Suckling the Infant Christ and its exhibition partner Ernst Neuschul’s ‘Black Mother’ from Leicester Museum and Art Gallery as its starting point, this session will explore how love is expressed in a selection of works from the National Gallery Collection.
Fruits of the Spirit: Marguerite Gérard’s The Reader
22 February 2023
1–1.30pm
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts
This talk will give you an introduction to Marguerite Gérard’s 'The Reader'. Hear from Helen Cobby, Assistant Curator and Jane Nicol, the Barber’s Nurse in Residence as they explore this painting’s narrative through a female gaze, discussing the virtue of Patience, motherhood and healthcare.
Poetry Workshop with Yomi Ṣode
28 February 2023
6pm
Foundling Museum
Join award-winning writer, Yomi Ṣode, and creative writing graduates, for an intimate evening poetry workshop exploring ideas of faithfulness.
In-focus session: Peace
14 March 2023
4–5pm
Online
Join Dr Siobhán Jolley, Ahmanson Research Fellow in Art and Religion, for an in-focus consideration on the theme of Peace, from the exhibition Fruits of the Spirit: Art from the Heart. Taking Claude Monet’s Water-Lilies and its exhibition partner Winifred Knights’ ‘Scenes from the Life of Saint Martin of Tours’ from Canterbury Cathedral as its starting point, this session will explore how peace is expressed in a selection of works from the National Gallery Collection.
Radical / Ardent gentleness
25 March 2023
3.30–4.30pm
Southampton City Art Gallery
Join artist Lizzie Jones and Assistant Curator of Art Jemma Craig to celebrate the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ project. In response, and as part of ongoing conversations, Southampton-based artist Lizzie Jones and writer Frank Campbell have considered the relevance and necessity of seemingly extraordinary gentle actions in the world today.
Fruits of the Spirit: mini-talks
3 – 6 April 2023
Canterbury Cathedral
As part of the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’ collaboration with the National Gallery, Canterbury Cathedral have daily mini-talks led by expert guides. They will look at examples from the Cathedral’s art collection and the theme of Art and Peace.
In-focus session: Kindness
11 April 2023
4–5pm
Online
Join Dr Susanna Avery-Quash, Senior Research Curator (History of Collecting), for an in-focus consideration on the theme of Kindness, from the exhibition Fruits of the Spirit: Art from the Heart. Taking Eugène Delacroix’s Ovid Among the Scythians and its exhibition partner Louis Finson’s (circle of) ‘Christ Healing the Ear of Malchus’ from the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle as its starting point, this session will explore how kindness is expressed in a selection of works from the National Gallery Collection.
Related content
Why does this painting make some people cry?
and what does this tell us about transcendence?
Revd Dr Ayla Lepine, curator of the virtual exhibition 'Fruits of the Spirit: Art from the Heart' and former Ahmanson Research Associate Curator in Art and Religion at the National Gallery, explores the theme of peace through Monet's 'Water-Lilies'