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"Outraged Christ" by Charles Lutyens [A lecture extract by The Rt Revd Lord Harries]

1,019 views · Published 4 April 2012 · 2:47 · Indexed 12 November 2026

Channel: Gresham College · 2012 · Education

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The Rt Revd Lord Harries explains why this example of contemporary Christian art shows Christ in a way which has never been seen before.

Charles Lutyens (born 1933) is a contemporary British artist who mainly works on portrait and landscape paintings and who has turned to Christian themes from time to time.
The highlight of a recent exhibition was 'Outraged Christ', a work which has just been completed and was on view for the first time. This was a much larger than life sculpture, standing at 15', made of carved and recycled timber shaped in the form of slats. It is a moving, impressive work which, instead of showing Christ being battered or anguished, depicts him with mouth open, slightly to one side, with his knees pushing forward from the cross, in rage. But here is rage, indeed fury, not just at what is being inflicted on him but at what we humans do to one another.

The first Christians liked to show Christ victorious on the cross. The Mediaeval period focussed on his suffering for the sins of the world. The 20th century focussed on the suffering of the crucified Christ as a paradigm of the century's own terrible suffering. But Charles Lutyens' contemporary depiction of a Christ who is outraged is perhaps an entirely fresh addition to Christian iconography.

This is an extract from one of a series of free public lectures by The Rt Revd Lord Harries in his capacity as Professor of Divinity at Gresham College.
The full video and audio can be accessed on the Gresham College website here:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/contemporary-christian-art

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There is currently over 1,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.
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