Art Reading Scripture

Boy Blowing Bubbles: Allegory on the Transitoriness and Brevity of Life by Karel du Jardin 1663 National Gallery of Denmark

So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart. Psalm 90:12

When Julie and I saw this painting in Copenhagen we were immediately taken in by it. When we found a print of it in the museum gift shop we bought it and will have it framed. Perhaps it was the innocence of the child's face. Perhaps it was because we thought of our grandchildren Sam and Joey. Perhaps it was because of the rarity of seeing a child depicted so prominently in art of the period. The image profoundly and playfully communicates the allegory on "the Transitoriness and Brevity of Life." One might expect this wisdom to come through a depiction of an aged person reflecting on the length of days and approaching death. But to consider it through a vision of a child whose life has just begun, blowing bubbles which last for mere seconds conveys joy and hope about life, rather than death and despair.

The description of the painting reads: "The boy has just lowered his pipe, looking at the soap bubbles with delight. A few soap bubbles still quiver on the rim of the scallop in his hand, which acts as a soap dish. He is dressed in a short blue robe and a fluttering red sash that catches the wind like a sail. The happy boy balances one foot on an orb that looks very much like a giant soap bubble. Poised in this manner, he rushes across a troubled sea inside an equally vast seashell. The unnatural and unreal scenario forms a stark contrast to the lifelike manner of the painting, which tells us that this is an allegory, a visualization of an abstract idea. Through metaphors for wealth (the pearl necklace and the coral branch) and for the brevity of life (the soap bubbles), the painting conveys one of the basic ideas of the Baroque - that earthly riches and happiness are fleeting and we must all die."

Psalm 90 is a prayer to God about the brevity of life and its toils, troubles and trials. Our years sweep away, "they are like a dream, like the grass that is renewed in the morning ... in the evening it fades and withers. ... our years come to an end like a sigh. ... So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart." All that may seem morose or melancholy. Perhaps if the painting had been of an aged person at the end of their days reflecting on the accumulation of trophies, accomplishments and wealth, like the preacher of Ecclesiastes whose take on life was "vanity of vanities! All is vanity," we might have passed it by. Contrast this with the Vanitas painting I reflected on earlier with its skull and other stuff. Life may pass "like a dream" yet what a wonderful dream it is, renewed every morning, even if it is like a sigh or a bubble that delights a child. The world is a troubled sea. Life is the gift we have been given by God for however many days we receive. "This is the day the LORD has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." This is wisdom. This is the reason to get up every day and live again. Somedays we simply need to go find a child and blow some bubbles.

Keep the faith. Say your prayers. Love like Jesus.

Pastor Tim Bauer