The Trinity

The Trinity is a being made of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Over a period of time, artists have tried to interpret these beings and create a visual representation. Is it traditional or ideologic to identify these beings as an older white man, a younger white man, and a white bird of some sort. Might these beings be different races, women, ageless, even faceless. Whether art is contemporary or matching a theme from a time frame, interpretation is timeless. From Dr. Clark’s Thinking about Trinity Prezi slideshow sharing art of the Trinity throughout history from all regions of the world and various communities I personally think image 5 reflects the Trinity best. This image has three people that (to me) don’t represent a race nor gender. They’re simply a person, a being. The closer you look you see each figure with a rim around their heads, perhaps a halo. Each being is sitting on a chair around the table with a cup (possibly a chalice) in the center. There appears to be a building in the background, I would guess a church. Mainly this background is plain, it draws viewers to look at the center, without distracting details. The Father would make sense as an older male and the Son would make sense being a younger male if you look for something that connects the words. However the Holy Spirit is a mixture of both and of something in its own way. How can artists find an image for something this extravagant. I believe image 5 is simple yet is deep enough to convey the Trinity in a piece. Each person is equal and doesn’t have independent identity. They each even have mutual respect as shown by their placement around the table. If I had to give identity to each person, I think the figure on the left would be the Father just by the clothing. They seem more put together and clothed whereas the right figure I would assign as the Son because of the lesser clothing. Jesus was simplified and the lesser clothing I say is a visual cue. The figure in the middle would be the Holy Spirit because of the complexity of colors on the clothing. The Father and Son have calmer colors like green and blue but the Holy Spirit figure is wearing red. Red connects to boldness and power and with the complexity of the Holy Spirit it fits. Red is connected to fire which a lot of people say that the Holy Spirit is the fire in almost everything we do. All figures are at ease and are focused on the table which could be a space of how to spread the work of the Trinity to the world. They’re focusing on something bigger than themselves which the Trinity represents as well. Though these are three figures, they seem to represent the same one thing, they seem to be with one another acting as a whole just as the Trinity.