Painting by Enrique Simonet Lombardo {{PD-1996}}

We were able to visit the world famous Prado Museum and yes, we waited for the free visit hours in a line for a while before we were let in. Now that everyone is carrying a camera at all times, all the visitors were compelled to comply with rule forbidding photography. I was excited but I wasn’t sure what to expect.

My wife and I wandered the rooms and halls knowing we couldn’t view everything, but relishing the incredible timeless paintings and sculpture. The Prado holds artwork from Spain’s own Goya as well as Rubens, Rafael and even Rembrandt.

The Painting

After walking through several rooms, I walked through one door way and my heart fell. Most of the gallery rooms are quite large and one of the main areas is literally several hundred feet long. I was entering one room when I saw the painting.

Previous visits to museums taught me that there is an optimal distance for viewing paintings. No painting [that I am aware of ] is meant to be viewed up close. One needs perspective to see the depth, shading and detail added by the artist.

This painting measures 18 feet by 10 feet high! Upon entering the room I was immediately entranced into the captured moment. I knew it was Christ and His disciples gazing over Jerusalem. I was then compelled to know what moment the artist had captured.

I assumed that the artist had chosen Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” [KJV] That was not it.

For me the sense of sorrow was pervasive as the color of the sky helped deliver the tone and accented how He expressed his sorrow. It was as if the turmoil Jerusalem would experience was revealed to him at that moment.

Luke 19:41

In my mind, this was the time for the Matthew 23:37 speech, but according to some scholars, his admonishment for Jerusalem only came after entering the city. The artist cites Luke 19:41 as the inspiration which took place during the approach to the city known as the “Palm Sunday parade”.

One commentator declares that Jesus must have repeated some ideas on different occasions. It seems that all of this speech could have been shared in one extended reveal of Jerusalem’s future fate.

All of this cannot be allowed to overshadow the fact that Jesus, architect, creator & ruler of creation was moved to tears by compassion on the fate of the city. He gifted Simonet wih a glimpse of his ongoing passion.