Bernini and Truth

We are headed to the Borghese gallery today. It is far and away my favorite gallery/museum in Rome because it is home to an incredible collection of Bernini statues. If you're not aware of Bernini's work you're, well, you're missing out. His ability to take unformed marble and transform it into living, fluid, moving, and jaw-dropping sculptures is...well...there are no words.

My favorite, odd as it may seem, is the statue of Pluto and Persephone (above). The god of Hades, Pluto, is taking Persephone against her will to the underworld with him and she struggles with all her might. The story that Bernini's work is telling is one of an unwilling young woman battling for her freedom. The way in which Bernini is able to manipulate the marble to show the indentations of Pluto's fingers on Persephone's skin or her tears as they roll down her face is nothing short of genius. What one feels as they look upon this art work is her hopelessness, her anguish, and his brute strength. And I got to thinking. This statue represents so much in our everyday lives. For me, I feel like this can portray sin and our struggle against those things that hold us down or attempt to take us into bondage. It's a struggle for freedom and often times it feels as if we're flailing about trying to escape from that which holds us prisoner. Persephone is us wrestling with sin, reaching out towards Hope, Grace, and Mercy. I don't know. It just struck me this morning as I was thinking about going to the Borghese that this is a good representation of how I sometimes think sin is. Thankfully, though, unlike Persephone in this moment we have a Savior, one who does battle for us, who faced death for us so that we would not be dragged down by sin, dragged down into the underworld. Jesus Christ faced down sin and death on the Cross and overcame it and when we enter into relationship with Him we are set free. Though we may still struggle, we are ultimately free because of His death and resurrection. SIGH...this is good news indeed.

This is a little heavier post than normal on my blog, but as we approach Easter and as I get ready to head out to the Borghese this what God is teaching me. I love that He always finds things in our everyday lives to teach us Eternal Truths. Anyways, happy Easter from Rome and remember...He Is Risen!