Evangelists of Art: Picture-Sermons for Children — Story, Setting & Ideas

Painting as Exegetical Tool

Patrick does not treat paintings as mere illustrations; he uses them as primary texts for theological reflection. In the chapter on "Luther at Erfürt" by Sir J. Noël Paton, the sermon likely draws on the painting's depiction of Luther's monastic cell or study—a space of intellectual and spiritual struggle. Patrick's method is to describe what the eye sees—"the interior of a spacious portico," "the farther end is closed by an ornamental lattice-screen"—and then to ask what these details signify. For instance, the beggar on the steps in Hunt's painting is noted not as a random figure but as a reminder of poverty and need within the Temple precincts. This technique trains children to read paintings as layered narratives, where every element carries meaning.

Martyrs and Reformers as Visual Subjects

Several sermons focus on figures of Protestant martyrdom. The chapter on "Wishart Dispensing the Sacrament before His Martyrdom" by W. Q. Orchardson recounts the historical George Wishart's final breakfast, where he blessed bread and wine after being denied the sacrament by Cardinal Beaton. Patrick emphasizes Wishart's words: "I beseech you in the name of God... to be silent a little while, till I have made a short exhortation." The painting presumably captures this domestic yet charged scene—a governor's family at table, a soldier at the door. Patrick's narrative fills in the backstory: Wishart's plague ministry in Dundee, his teaching of the Greek New Testament, and his execution at the stake. The sermon thus becomes a history lesson anchored by a single painted moment.

Classical and Allegorical Figures

Not all chapters are biblical or historical. Patrick includes paintings of classical myths: Lord Leighton's "Hercules Wrestling with Death for the Body of Alcestis" and G. F. Watts's "Orpheus and Eurydice." These choices suggest an expansive definition of "evangelist"—artists who convey moral truths through pagan stories. The sermon on "The Rider on the White Horse" (also by Watts) likely interprets the apocalyptic image from Revelation, while "The Man with the Muck-Rake" (after Paton) draws on Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Patrick's willingness to move between biblical, historical, classical, and literary sources indicates a curriculum aimed at cultural literacy as much as religious instruction.

Readers approaching Evangelists of Art should note that Patrick's sermons are tightly bound to the paintings he describes; the book is best read with reproductions of the artworks at hand. The author's voice is instructive but not condescending, assuming children can follow detailed descriptions of architecture, costume, and composition. The volume offers a window into early twentieth-century Protestant pedagogy, where art served as a bridge between scripture and everyday life.

That rainy afternoon, I lingered over the Watts sermon, watching the children in the story grapple with grace they couldn’t earn. The book’s quiet insistence on mercy stayed with me. Later, rain against the window, I found myself reaching for Prayer and praying men — Reading Notes, almost accidentally, as if one volume’s stillness had led me to another’s.