The website ChurchPop
recently published an article about a series of twenty paintings of the life of Christ, by Korean artist Woonbo Kim Ki-chang. The style and the settings are unmistakably Korean, a beautiful example of the best kind of inculturation, that by which the culture of a people and a nation are put to the service of the Gospel, while retaining what is good in their proper traditions and characteristic. As we have noted on other occasions,
recent and
not so recent, in many parts of Asia it is considered dishonorable for a man to appear in public without a hat. Notice therefore how the Magi at the stable and the adult Christ (among others) are shown with hats. When, however, we come to the trial of Christ, the scourging, the carrying of the Cross, and the Crucifixion itself, He is shown without a hat; the hat then reappears at the Resurrection and Ascension.
You can see the whole set in the original article linked above. (Images reproduced here with permission of their editor.)
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| The Annunciation |
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| The Birth of Christ |
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| The Adoration of the Magi |
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| Jesus and the Adulteress |
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| The Last Supper |
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| The Trial before Pilate |
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| The Crucifixion |
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| The Resurrection |
