Alex Dooley

ART 101
Image Interaction Journal: Phase 4 Meditation
Dr. Milliner
27 February 2012

Over the course of the frst quad of this semester, I have had the privilege of
saturating my life with, learning about, and meditating on Fritz von Uhde's painting

Das Tischgebet. Granted, this selection, research, and immersion was assigned as a
class project. It certainly had the potential to be dry and uninteresting in my mind
at least at the beginning of the semester. When I fnally found the painting upon
which to focus, I was struck by its use of contrast in lighting and the depth of feeling
portrayed in the faces of its people and the incredible shoes the father fgure in the
painting is wearing. It took very little time to realize that I would have no problem
looking at this image every day for several weeks.
I do something unusual with the desktop background of my laptop. While I
imagine most people let the image gracing their computer screen fade into the
background of their thoughts as they bounce back and forth between browsing the
internet, editing documents, and listening to music, my eyes always end up going to
the same place on the screen. The location of the screen on which I choose
subconsciously to focus changes every couple hours, so I usually end up digesting
the image pretty thoroughly after a few days (this process plays a signifcant role in
determining the length of time my desktop background is left unchanged). In this
image, however, I found a depth of content with which to engage that does not exist

in most of the pictures usually jacked off the internet that end up plastered on
my MacBook Pro, thus giving the image more than enough staying power to survive
the quad as the backdrop to my Pandora mini-player and Twitter micro feed.
This interaction with Das Tischgebet gave me an appreciation for the image
that supersedes mere aesthetics. Looking at the same picture for a month has given
me the opportunity to see a deeper meaning in both individual facets of the painting
and the painting as a whole. The signifcance expressed in the various aspects of the
image truly gave life to Das Tischgebet for me. I've decided to focus on some of the
key parts of the painting with which I found importance and describe the meaning I
discovered in them for this part of the journal.

The Cat
On the far left-hand side of Uhde's
painting is a seemingly random cat. Why
does the cat exist in the frst place? this was my frst thought as I began to
meditate on the cat. Perhaps it makes
sense to paint a cat into the scenery of a
farm home the cat certainly must have
served a practical purpose in the life of
this family. The more I thought about
this, the more it seemed that the cat
honestly had no important role to play in
the painting. It merely eats from its dish
on the side of the room, bothering
nobody, only doing what it knows to do
to survive. It was then that I realized,
however, that the vulnerability expressed through this cat is very much representative of the
vulnerability we as humans have when considering the relationship we have to our Father in Heaven.
Without the provision of its owners, this cat has no food or shelter. In much the same way, the only
One who can provide our daily needs is God through Him, all love and protection is ours.

The Lamp and the Window

Located above the dining room table in the farmhouse is an old oil lamp. It remains unlit, a
normal state of being considering the vast amount of light pouring in through the window behind it.
The normalcy of this scene is a beautiful thing, however. It reminds me of the passage of scripture in
1 John 1:5, which says God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Without darkness, it simply
makes no sense to light a lamp. Who would waste valuable oil (or electricity in today's world) when
the natural light of the sun is shining right through the window?
However, there is a time in which lighting a lamp is necessary that is, when darkness
surrounds and there is no light to be seen. We, as Christians, are called to do exactly this during our
time on the earth. Philippians 2:15 speaks of this when it commands us to be children of God without
fault in a warped and crooked generation and shine among them like stars in the sky.
In the presence of God, however, there is no more need for light. When speaking of the new
heaven created by God, Revelation 21:23 says The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine
on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. It wasn't for awhile that I made this
connection, but this is almost precisely what we see represented in this image. The room does not
need the lamp to shine on it, for the glory of God gives the sun its light to shine through the window,
and the Lamb is its lamp. Jesus is obviously the analogous Lamb in this picture, and the glory of God
shines through the window in the form of sunshine, illuminating the lamp Jesus.
The imagery expressed in this part of the picture is fantastic, and is perhaps the richest
symbolism I discovered while meditating on Das Tischgebet. While we do live in a dark, fallen, warped
and crooked generation, the light of God still shines and is refected through both the work of the
Holy Spirit in our lives and the actual life of Jesus the Lamb of God, and the lamp of the city.

The Chair
Sitting in the foreground of the painting is an
empty, wooden chair. The father of the family
pictured motions for Jesus to take a seat at
this chair and join the family for their meal. The
chair is located at the head of the table a
position of prominence. The father of the family
would certainly take this position at the table
under normal circumstances, but this is a
special occasion. Wouldn't I do the same if the
Son of God showed up at my house for dinner?
Of course I would...wait. Jesus is supposed to
live in my heart, and so often do I offer Him
nothing more than ein Tischgebet a mealtime
prayer. It's so important to not only
acknowledge the presence of the God of the
universe in my life, but to open the head of the
table that is, my life to Him. Opening the
door when Jesus knocks is only the frst step in
my relationship with Him. Just like Jesus can't
actually commune with the family at mealtime
unless He is offered a real seat in this painting,
it is only when the fact that my life now
belongs totally to Him takes precedence in my
heart that our relationship can truly grow.

The process of meditating on Das Tischgebet has both opened my eyes to new
truths God has for me and reminded me of old things I learned in Sunday school years
ago. By spending a few weeks looking at life through the dining room of a German
peasant family (at least while on my computer), my perspective on faith, life, and my
relationship with God has shifted. Who knew that such a boring project would end
up being so refreshing and worthwhile?
I hope that Das Tischgebet is not the only image that comes to life like this for
me. Because of the practice I've received in observing this painting, I will be able to
continue seeing images as more than color on canvas and for that, I am thankful.