Agony in the Garden: Art and Faith from Eden to Gethsemane
Join us as Debbie Lewer draws on imagery from Eden to Gethsemane and beyond to reflect on the theological significance of green spaces, sites of solace, turmoil and life-changing encounter.
Join us for a retreat day in conjunction with the Royal Foundation of St Katharine.
Over centuries, artists of all kinds have vividly imagined gardens as places of abundance and desolation, as the settings for temptation and transformation and as the stage for human and holy drama. This retreat day is a chance to explore gardens real and imagined in visual art from these perspectives. We will look at gardens designed and made by artists, and as they appear in paintings, prints, drawings, photographs and more. Drawing on imagery from Eden to Gethsemane and beyond, we will reflect especially on the theological significance of these green spaces, sites of solace, turmoil and life-changing encounter.
Dr Deborah Lewer is Senior Lecturer in History of Art at the University of Glasgow. Debbie is an expert on modern German art including Dada, Expressionism and aspects of performance and literature. She also works extensively on the intersection of theology and the arts. She is a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and has served on the editorial board of Art History, and of Art + Christianity. She has worked on a number of occasions for St Paul’s Cathedral, writing reflections and running retreat days. She is committed to helping people of all backgrounds encounter visual art in meaningful ways.
The cost of £45 includes coffee and pastries on arrival, a retreat lunch and afternoon pot of tea and cake.
Films of events
Find films of many of our previous events as well as podcasts and written reflections exploring a huge range of subjects – from Rowan Williams’ talk Jesus Christ: The Unanswered Questions, to Paula Gooder's A Spirituality of the Body, to David Suchet’s mesmerising reading of the whole of the Gospel According to Mark.