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THE GUARDIAN  By Andrew Brown The big global religious story will be the continuation of last year’s titanic struggle for the soul of the Catholic church between Pope Francis and the Vatican. I don’t know where you should put your bets. If Francis wins, he and his reforming party will change the interpretation of the church’s hard line on divorce and remarriage. If he loses, the church will maintain its logically perfect but wholly unworkable and dishonest theory of sexuality. The crucial battle will come in October, when bishops from around the world meet in the Vatican for a “synod on the family”. Whichever way the decision goes this time, the losing side will be convinced that the winners have betrayed the gospel.

ARTNET | NEWS By Henri Neuendorf A page from one of the manuscripts Photo: Seydou Camara via Art Daily AFRICA---The Center of Fine Arts, Brussels is exhibiting a group 16 priceless original manuscripts, which were saved from destruction when Islamist militants occupied the ancient city of Timbuktu in 2012. When Islamist militants took Timbuktu during the Northern Mali conflict in 2012, Abdel Kader Haidara mobilized 32 of the city's libraries to secretly smuggle their collections of ancient manuscripts on African history, mathematics, chemistry, and law to the capital Bamako. Timbuktu, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, was a bustling hub of trade in the 15th and 16th century. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Ben Kenigsberg The church, unfinished. Credit First Run Features HOLLYWOOD---Visitors to Barcelona could do worse than watch “ Sagrada: The Mystery of Creation ,” a documentary primer on the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família . The Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí labored over the church for most of his life but never completed it. He died in 1926 after being hit by a tram. Still under construction more than 130 years after Gaudí was commissioned, the church is a popular destination for tourists, yet it is mired in controversy. The question of how to proceed has been confounded over the years by war, lack of money, the destruction of Gaudí's models and Barcelona’s urban development. The movie is ideally viewed while waiting in line to see the church. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Brian Schaefer Shaker oval boxes and furniture have been the sect’s cultural calling card. Credit Ángel Franco/The New York Times MASSACHUSETTS---Ms. Steigleder believes that, more than ever, the Shakers have something to share with society. In the two years since Ms. Steigleder’s arrival, Hancock Shaker Village , on a bare-bones budget, has returned to operating in the black. The days of deficit spending are over, Ms. Steigleder said, and there is a sense of cautious optimism about the future. Several other small but notable developments feed the sense of a resurging interest in the Shakers: a new exhibition at the New York State Museum in Albany (through March 6, 2016); a show at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Me. (through March 8); a glossy book, “ The Shakers: From Mount Lebanon to the World ” (Rizzoli); and a well-received production by the Wooster Group , “Early Shaker Spirituals,” that returns to New York in April. [ link ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS "Jacob Blesses His Sons on His Deathbed" By Yoram Raanan ISRAEL---Jewish painter,  Yoram Raanan takes inspiration from living in Israel where he can fully explore and express his Jewish consciousness according to Chabad.org . He was born in Philadelphia, but found that the light, the air, the spirit of the people and the land, energized and inspired him enough to make it his new home. His paintings include modern Jewish expressionism with a wide range of subjects ranging from abstract to landscape, Biblical and Judaic. In the painting, "Jacob Blesses His Sons on His Deathbed," Jacob's children gather around for his final words ( Genesis: 49:1-2, 28 ). Light seeps out of the darkness as Jacob lifts his hands to bless his sons, the 12 tribes of Israel.

TIMES OF INDIA By Abdul Qadir, TNN The Hindu organisation will have to change their strategy and address real issues if further conversions are to be prevented, says, Prof Arun Kumar Prasad who teaches Philosophy in MG College, Gaya. INDIA---The 42 Mahadalit families that got converted to Christianity on Christmas eve would be retaining their Hindu names. However, the new borns in these families will get Biblical names. According to Rajanti Devi, one of the converts, there was no harm in retaining the Hindu names but the future generations will get Biblically inspired names. [ link ] READ ALSO: RSS body seeks donations to fund Christmas 'conversions' in Aligarh

ALGEMEINER Sapir College display. Photo: 0404 News. ISRAEL---Officials at Sapir College in Sderot are investigating the possible theft of an amulet from a provocative art display , Israel’s NRG News said Tuesday. “The Power of the Word,” which opened Tuesday at Sapir College , is seen by some as encouraging incitement, though its defenders insist that the exhibit is important because it showcases opinions on both sides. The exhibition includes three hamsas (palm-shaped amulets popular throughout the Middle East) created by artist Gad Wellnitz and decorated with the words “ISIS,” “Slaughter the Jews,” and “In blood and fire we will redeem Palestine.” [ link ]

THE INDEPENDENT By Neela Debnath UNITED ARAB EMIRATES---The United Arab Emirates has become the latest nation to ban Ridley Scott’s epic blockbuster " Exodus: Gods and Kings ." The film, which stars Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton and Sir Ben Kingsley, is based on the Bible’s Book of Exodus and follows the story of the prophet Moses rising up again the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses. Earlier this week it was banned in Egypt and Morocco. The epic was censored in Egypt for “historical inaccuracies”, in particular suggesting that Jews built the pyramids and that an earthquake parted the Red Sea rather than being a divine miracle. [ link ]

THE CHRISTIAN POST By Nicola Menzie A young Yazidi woman, recently married, reportedly committed suicide after being abducted by Islamic State militants. She appears in these undated photos. IRAQ---A New York City pastor and Texas-based Yazidi activist who flew to Iraq the week before Christmas to assess the humanitarian needs of displaced Yazidis persecuted by the Islamic State have called the present situation of more than 300,000 refugees "genocidal" and "insane." William Devlin and Murad Ismael connected via phone with a radio show in New York City live from Iraq just days before Christmas to describe the living conditions of distraught Yazidis staying at several refugee camps in Dohak in Kurdistan, in northern Iraq. [ link ]

THE GUARDIAN By Jonathon Jones "Adoration of the Sheperds" by Anthony van Dyck UNITED KINGDOM---At this consumerist time of year, it is worth looking at some of the ways artists portray poverty. Caravaggio never lets you forget the reality of Roman street life in the 17th century. Even that great flatterer of the rich, Anthony van Dyck , imitated Caravaggio by showing unshod feet of the poor in Adoration of the Shepherds . Churches were full of fine art, yet Christianity praises poverty. When Velázquez portrayed a water-seller on the streets of Seville , he was showing Christian virtues of humility and patience. And yet … it is truly astonishing, given that all their income came from the wealthy and powerful, how much detail of the lives of the poor painters have preserved. So here we are in the 21st century. [ link ]

MAIL & GUARDIAN AFRICA By Aida Mbowa Untitled by Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, Egypt AFRICA---It has been a bad 2014 for African bloggers, and those with social-media-happy fingers. From Kenya, Morocco, Mauritanian, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Egypt, they have been jailed or dragged to court. Yet their work online still tends to cause less outrage than books and, especially, art. When freedom of expression meets public outrage, we arrive at some of the most controversial artworks produced in Africa in recent years. [ link ]

FINANCIAL TIMES By Ariella Budick 'Jupiter and Antiope' (c1595-97), left, and 'Hercules and Omphale' (c1585) NEW YORK---Imagine a 16th-century version of an adult website, with lithe bodies tangled in impossibly acrobatic poses, lissom limbs, lustrous flesh, supple skin, all elaborately arranged in dances of erotic abandon. Or don’t imagine it, but just wander over to the Metropolitan Museum and see the whole sensual shebang in the . . . well, not quite flesh, but almost. Bartholomeus Spranger , the painter whose seductive delights dazzled exacting patrons all over Europe before long ago tumbling into obscurity, is having his moment all over again. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Scott Reyburn An alabaster statue of St. Philip, circa 1420-30, sold for £542,500 on Dec. 3 at Sotheby’s. Credit Sotheby’s UNITED KINGDOM---In today’s collecting culture, if art from a more distant past is to find new buyers, it needs to look good when next to 1960s minimalism or the latest “process based” abstraction. Tribal art and classical antiquities are already well-established “crossover” buys at auctions and art fairs. Now medieval sculpture — three-dimensional works produced in Europe from about 1000 to 1550 — is also gaining a reputation for the sort of timelessness that goes well with a Klein or a Koons, often at a fraction of the price. Most unusually for this niche collecting field, three outstanding medieval objects were sold at auctions in London and Paris this month. [ link ]

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By TAHLIB "Reborn Light" by Lee Lee-Nam. Image courtesy of Gana Art SOUTH KOREA---The lift from death to spirit in Michelangelo's "Pieta" sculpture comes into full view in the hands of media artist Lee Lee-nam . The Korea Herald Business describes his work as reinterpreting "light symbolizing Christ as a 'savior' that restores humanism lost in the confused digital world." The dead body of Christ lifts up from the open hands of his mother in one digital painting, and in another Jesus walks bearing a television instead of cross. This is Lee's latest series of animated digital re-imaginings currently on display at Gana Art Center in Pyeongchang-dong, Seoul.

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Manohla Dargis Unbroken Domhnall Gleeson, left, and Jack O’Connell in the film, which opened on Christmas day. Credit Universal Pictures HOLLYWOOD---Angelina Jolie opens “ Unbroken ” with a shot of a celestial blue sky that soon darkens with a battle scene so tense and fluidly choreographed that you quickly sense that, as a director, she leans closer to hell than heaven. With some narrative rejigging, a lot of compression and one significant exception, Ms. Jolie follows the lead of the book, which focuses on the first 25 years or so of Mr. Zamperini’s life. What the movie ends up in desperate need of is a sense of life made real and palpable through dreadful, transporting details, not a life embalmed in hagiographic awe. You can find that movie here, at times, tucked amid the crane shots and angelic singing, though mostly in the perverse intimacy that emerges between Louie and the sadistic officer, Watanabe (Miyavi), and shows just how personal war can real...

THE GUARDIAN By Jonathan Jones The great departure of Buddha: stone relief, c.100-300 from Gandhara, showing Prince Siddhartha Gautama on horseback. Photograph: Universal History Archive/Rex Features UNITED KINGDOM---A crowd of people gather round a man on a horse, in an ancient stone relief that roars with life. Is this Christ entering Jerusalem? Or even a nativity scene – a wise man heading for Bethlehem perhaps? In fact, it is an image of Prince Siddhartha setting out from his father’s palace . This masterpiece of Buddhist art was carved in Gandhara, on the borders of modern Pakistan and Afghanistan, some time between the second and fourth centuries AD. But like many other artworks from ancient Gandhara, it uncannily resembles early Christian art. Indeed, it is evidence of a fascinating encounter of east and west. [ link ]

FINANCIAL TIMES By Rachel Spence Cima de Conegliano’s ‘The Baptism of Christ’ ITALY---For many years, I lived minutes away from the Church of San Giovanni in Bragora in the Castello district of Venice. Nothing about its humble brick façade hinted at the presence within of a magnificent altarpiece: “The Baptism of Christ” by Cima da Conegliano .  To my art-historical eye, the gnarled branches, sage-green turf and translucent water summoned the detail-obsessive ghosts of the Flemish painters. But when my neighbour Maria looked at the painting, she had a different experience. When she went to Mass every Sunday she experienced “The Baptism” not as a work of art but as a conduit for her prayers. “When I see Him, I feel protected,” she said to me. [ link ]

ARTNET By Henri Neuendorf The Mural at the Brooklyn Museum has upset some Hindus Photo: New York Daily News NEW YORK---A 60 foot (18.2 meter) mural at the Brooklyn Museum has outraged Hindu spiritual leaders in the US, Art Daily reports. The artwork, part of the museum's Eyes of Time exhibition, shows the goddess Kali with three legs, three breasts, six arms, and her face replaced by a clock. However, Rajan Zed, President of the Nevada-based Universal Society of Hinduism told the New York Daily News that “such absurd depiction of goddess Kali with no scriptural backing was hurtful to the devotees." [ link ]

SAN DIEGO JEWISH WORLD By Jeremy Ben-Ami WASHINGTON, D.C.---In a victory for those seeking political limits on art and speech in communal institutions, Washington’s Jewish Community Center has fired the artistic director of the acclaimed Theater J. His ouster caps a successful campaign by a small group of activists to shutter the theater over the content of its programming related to Israel. But the right way to deal with speech or art you don’t agree with is to counter it with other speech and art , not to shut it down. [ link ]

I KNOW TODAY By Paula Blaj The Ridley Scott Moses VS Ramses battle is banned from countries like Egypt HOLLYWOOD--- Exodus: Gods and Kings was expected to cause stir among both movie critics and religious parties before its official release date, due to the Old Testament based story of the production. It seems that Ridley Scott’s choice to tell the tale of leader Moses and Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses was not a quite inspired one, as the feedback received was both positive and negative and the box office reported quite modest figures even in the release day (numbers which visibly decreased in the next period of time). Now the adventure-drama battle was banned in both Egypt and Morocco due to what critics consider to be ‘’historical inaccuracies’’. [ link ]

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By TAHLIB | Sunday Comments Only During 2014, ancient religions have been reintroduced to the world because of the spread of war. One of those mysterious religions is the Mandaeans, who follow John the Baptist. In the new book, " Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms " Gerard Russell explores disappearing religions, and their symbols and rituals including the Mandaean Darfesh . The darfesh symbol which resembles a Christian cross is actually a symbol of the "immersion in the Tigris" river. One of the book's photos (above) of a Mandaean baptism is my NEWS OF WEEK .

THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR By Tony Cook and Marisa Kwiatkowski John Rusher (left) of Indianapolis takes exception to comments by Adam Briggs (wearing blue T-shirt), the pastor of the Damascus Road Bible Fellowship, and Richard Holst (holding a sign) at a rally at City Market in Downtown Indianapolis on Oct. 11, 2010. The rally was organized by LGBT groups to protest their treatment at the “Just Cookies” bakery at the market, but it attracted conservative protesters, too. (Photo: Sam Riche / The Star 2010 file photo) INDIANA---A battle is shaping up in the Indiana legislature over a proposal that supporters say will protect people with strong religious beliefs, but that opponents say would legalize discrimination against gays and others. The legislation has been widely expected ever since a federal judge struck down Indiana's same-sex marriage ban in June. The bill's author, Sen. Scott Schneider, R-Indianapolis, said Friday that he intends to shore up gaps in Indiana's ...

ARTDAILY PENNSYLVANIA--- La Salle University Art Museum presents the exhibition Poetic Visions: Indian Art from the Permanent Collection on view December 17, 2014 – February 27, 2015. This exhibition showcases 38 Indian miniature paintings which were conserved through recent grants from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. From portraits of noblemen and secular activities, to religious narratives illustrating Hindu Gods and stories, the miniatures portray a range of subject matter and artistic styles, highlighting the breadth of La Salle’s collection. [ link ]

ARTSBEAT By John Williams A Mandean baptism in the Tigris River, May 2003. Credit Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images PUBLISHING---In The New York Times Book Review, Mohamad Bazzi reviews Gerard Russell’s “Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys Into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East.” On this week’s podcast, Mr. Russell talks about “ Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms ”; Alexandra Alter has news from the literary world; Phil Zuckerman discusses “ Living the Secular Life ”; and Gregory Cowles has best-seller news. Pamela Paul is the host. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Holland Cotter A mother and child from the 17th or 18th century, one of 14 sculptures made by the Mbembe that are being displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. NEW YORK---Now, more than 40 years on, the news finally hits New York with the arrival of “Warriors and Mothers: Epic Mbembe Art” at the Metropolitan Museum, one of the great sculpture shows of the season. They had been made by the Mbembe (m-BEM-beh) living in southeastern Nigeria, near the border of Cameroon. The religious tradition that had produced the work had been abandoned under colonialism. Tests revealed that some of the Mbembe pieces were from the 17th and 18th centuries, among the oldest wood carvings from Africa. [ link ] Metropolitan Museum of Art: “ Warriors and Mothers: Epic Mbembe Art ” (Ends Sept. 7, 2015); 1000 Fifth Avenue (at 82nd Street), New York, NY; 212-535-7710, metmuseum.org.

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Randy Kennedy “The Parakeet and the Mermaid (La Perruche et la Sirène)” (1952) on display as part of "Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs." Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times HOLLYWOOD---Borrowing a page from the opera and European museums, the Museum of Modern Art will soon begin to experiment with taking its exhibitions into movie theaters. On Jan. 13, “Matisse” – a documentary based on the highly popular exhibition “Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs,” which began at the Tate Modern and remains on view at the Museum of Modern Art through Feb. 8 – will open in movie theaters across the United States. [ link ]

MID-DAY By Kanika Sharma A panel from Rang de Nila by Siona Benjamin. She belongs to the Bene Israel community and uses symbolic elements from modern India, Islamic, Persian, Rajput and Mughal art. Pics courtesy/ Niyogi books INDIA---A recently released book, "Jews and the Indian National Art Project" traces the contributions of Jews to Indian art. From artists such as Anna Molka Ahmed, Esther David, Anisk Kapooor and Siona Benjamin to photographers, architects, critics, scholars and art patrons, the book qualifies as a tome on the subject as it aims to include mulitple voices making it a collector's item. [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Karen Armstrong The Norton Anthology of World Religions: Volume 1: Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism; Volume 2: Judaism, Christianity, Islam PUBLISHING---At a time when religious faith is coming under intense scrutiny, “ The Norton Anthology of World Religions ” is presenting a documentary history of six major faiths with sufficient editorial explanation to make their major texts intelligible across the barriers of time and space. This second volume in the series is a textual overview of the three monotheisms — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — from the early scriptures to contemporary writings. It is presented as a journey of exploration, but any reader who hopes to emerge from this literary excursion with a clear-cut understanding of these religions will be disappointed — and that is the great strength of this book. [ link ]

CARE2.COM By Crystal Shepeards INDIANA---While it's part of the United Methodist Church doctrine to prohibit self-avowed, practicing homosexuals to be ordained ministers, it is up to individual congregations and their ministers to determine how other leadership positions are filled. Many UMC members disagree with the churches stance on homosexuality. Even Pope Francis has signaled he'd like to be more welcoming to gays in the Catholic church, though traditionalists within the Roman Catholic Church have thus far pushed back against any type of full acceptance. [ link ]

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By TAHLIB | Comment on Sundays Hanukkah, this week's Jewish festival of lights, celebrates a military revolt by ancient Israelites, led by Judas Maccabeus (167-160 BCE) over forces of oppression. The oil lamps lit during Hanukkah mark a turning point. On Tuesday, a different group of modern-day oppressors crept into a crowded school in Pakistan and killed 132 schoolchildren . Will that day also mark a turning point in history? We pray that Tuesday is a turning point for the Islamic people of Pakistan, and such turning points make " The Maccabees " by Wojciech Korneli Stattler (above) my NEWS OF WEEK .

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Declan Walsh PAKISTAN---First the Pakistani Taliban bombed or burned over 1,000 schools. Then they shot Malala Yousafzai, the teenage advocate for girls’ rights. But on Tuesday, the Taliban took their war on education to a ruthless new low with an assault on a crowded school in Peshawar that killed 145 people — 132 of them uniformed schoolchildren — in the deadliest single attack in the group’s history. During an eight-hour rampage at the Army Public School and Degree College, a team of nine Taliban gunmen stormed through the corridors and assembly hall, firing at random and throwing grenades. [ link ]

BROOKLYN PAPER By Trupti Rami Hand of goddess: Artist Chitra Ganesh with her mural “Eyes of Time” at the Brooklyn Museum. Photo by Cate Dingley NEW YORK---“ Eyes of Time ,” the latest exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art is a 60-foot wall mural featuring Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction and rebirth, who has six arms, three legs, and three breasts. “Kali represents as certain kind of femininity that we don’t often see represented,” said Chitra Ganesh , who was born and raised in Brooklyn and has lived in Ditmas Park for the past 10 years. [ link ]

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By TAHLIB Chris Antemann in collaboration with Meissen®, Tempted to Taste (detail), 2013. © Chris Antemann and Meissen Couture®. OREGON---The Portland Art Museum’s exhibition ‘ Forbidden Fruit: Chris Antemann at Meissen ’ is a grand installation that reinvents and invigorates the great porcelain figurative tradition. Using the Garden of Eden as her metaphor, the artist has created a contemporary celebration of the 18th-century banqueting craze. Inspired by Meissen’s great historical model of Johann Joachim Kändler’s monumental Love Temple (1750), Antemann created her own 5-foot version. It is an irreverent look at history and the decorative arts tradition in this brilliant porcelain sculpture. The exhibition ends February 8, 2015.

ARTDAILY El Greco [Domenikos Theotokopoulos] (Spanish, born Greece, 1541-1614), The Holy Family with Saint Mary Magdalen, 1590-1595, oil on canvas, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Friends of the Cleveland Museum of Art in memory of J.H. Wade. OREGON---The fifth installment of the Portland Art Museum’s ongoing series Masterworks | Portland commemorates the fourth centenary of the death of El Greco (1541-1614), the brilliant, multicultural genius whose highly personal, conceptual style gave form to the intense spirituality of Spain’s Golden Age. Coinciding with the celebrations of Christmas and Easter, this special installation features the artist’s greatest devotional painting, the magisterial Holy Family with Saint Mary Magdalen, a rarely loaned treasure of the Cleveland Museum of Art. [ link ] Portland Art Museum: " Masterworks | Portland: El Greco " (Ends April 5, 2015); 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR; (503) 226-2811; portlandartmuseum.org

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By TAHLIB  "Sainte Sebastienne" (1992) by Louise Bourgeois (American/French, 1911–2010)  The late artist Louise Bourgeois said that her art is a reworking, or working through, of a wonderful yet fraught childhood. This seems to be the source of Bourgeois's fraught and sexualized imagery, as in the present work " Sainte Sebastienne ". As such, Bourgeois recast the classical subject of Saint Sebastian, famously martyred by arrows, as a woman. The work is available for auction on artnew auctions through Thursday, December 18, 2014. [ Bid ]

ABC  By Antonette Collins 2014 Blake Prize Winner, Melbourne-based artist Richard Lewer with an image from his digital work, Worse luck I am still here, a video animation of delicate black and white drawings that tells the tragic love story of a Perth pensioner who survived a failed assisted-suicide pact with his chronically ill wife, on Saturday December 13 2014. AUSTRALIA---Melbourne-based artist Richard Lewer has won the $25,000 Blake Prize for religious art in what could be the last year it is awarded. The often controversial prize is in jeopardy after being unable to secure a major sponsor. Blake Prize chairman Dr Rod Pattenden spoke at the opening ceremony for the 63rd year of the award at the University of New South Wales Galleries. "This a diverse, challenging and deeply moving exhibition of words and images that helps us see what matters most to those who carry the imagination of our culture," he said. "It is sad to note that due to lack of sponsorship i...

ARTDAILY El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata, 1585-1590. Oil on canvas. Overall: 102.08 x 97 cm (40 3/16 x 38 3/16 in.) The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, 37.424. WASHINGTON, DC.---The 400th anniversary of El Greco's death is being remembered at the National Gallery of Art with an exhibition of 11 paintings from the Gallery, Dumbarton Oaks, and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, and from the Walters Art Museum, in Baltimore. On view in the West Building, gallery M-28 from November 2, 2014 through February 16, 2015, " El Greco in the National Gallery of Art and Washington-Area Collections: A 400th Anniversary Celebration "  includes some of the artist's most beloved paintings, renowned for compositions of bold colors and subjects with dramatic expression. [ link ]

ARTDAILY PUBLISHING---The Art Institute of Chicago is pleased to announce the publication of its first free online scholarly catalogue for a temporary exhibition, " James Ensor: The Temptation of Saint Anthony ." The volume features new art historical and conservation research, presented in essays and videos, on Ensor’s monumental drawing The Temptation of Saint Anthony . The drawing is the centerpiece of the museum’s current exhibition Temptation: The Demons of James Ensor , which continues through January 25. [ link ]

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By TAHLIB Alchandreus Presents His Work to a King (detail), from Book of the Philosopher Alchandreus, Paris, Virgil Master, about 1405. The J. Paul Getty Museum CALIFORNIA---In the Middle Ages, gift exchange helped people define their relationships to family and friends, to acquaintances and strangers, to God and to church. The Getty Center's new exhibition,  " Give and Ye Shall Receive: Gift Giving in the Middle Ages " is  drawn from the Museum's permanent collection. It  examines models for giving found in scripture and in the lives of the saints, and explores how gift giving functioned in medieval society, and highlights the special role of the medieval book as a gift. Getty Center: " Give and Ye Shall Receive: Gift Giving in the Middle Ages " (December 16, 2014–March 15, 2015); 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, CA; (310) 440-7300; getty.edu

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By TAHLIB The eight-branched Hanukkah Menorah commemorates the triumphant Maccabean revolt against the oppressing Seleucid Empire and the re-consecration of the Jewish Holy Temple in 165 B.C. NEW YORK---In conjunction with the celebration of Hanukkah—the Metropolitan Museum of Art is observing the Jewish Festival of Lights from the evening of December 16 through the evening of December 24. The featured display is a magnificent, late 19th-century silver Menorah made in Lviv, Ukraine, is on display through January 12, 2015. Made in 1866–72, the ceremonial lamp—which is cast, chased, and engraved with elaborate motifs—is one of the largest silver Hanukkah lamps known.  The inscription on the base reads: "With You is the fountain of life; by Your light do we see light" (Psalms 36:10).

NEWS LIMITED  The Black Standard, also known as The Black Banner, is the symbol of jihadism. Source: Supplied The black and white flag paraded in the window of the cafe at the centre of the Martin Place siege is an Islamic flag hijacked by Muslim extremists. Known as The Black Standard, or The Black Banner, it is one of the flags flown by the prophet Muhammad but has been used by Muslim extremist organisations since the early 1990s. [ link ]

DAILY MAIL By Claire Carter An 'Islamic doll' with no facial features at all is being sold for £25 in line with Muslim rules which teach that items which represent features of living things, humans or animals, should not be produced and owned UNITED KINGDOM---'Islamic doll' for children launched in Britain with no FACE in line with strict Sharia rules on depiction of prophet and his contemporaries. However critics have dismissed the doll as 'foolish' and say it represents antiquated views of Islam teachings and fails to acknowledge that Muslim's are part of modern culture. The doll, which comes in just one design, is called Romeisa and named after the female companion of the Prophet Muhammad. It is aimed at children living in strict Muslim families. [ link ]

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS  By TAHLIB Proponents of the Ark Encounter hope their billboards will direct people to their website. KENTUCKY---This month, Creationists outside of Cincinnati released new billboards in response to the news reports rejecting tax support for the Ark Encounter project under construction in northern Kentucky. The new billboards state, “To all our intolerant liberal friends: Thank God You Can’t Sink This Ship.” The billboards are similar to previous campaigns. Website: www.arkencounter.com .

EUREKA STREET By Michael Mullins On Saturday the main prize of $25,000 was awarded to Melbourne artist Richard Lewer for his hand-drawn animation that depicts the story of elderly Perth man Bernie Erikson, who survived a failed suicide pact with his wife. Lewer said he wanted to raise questions about euthanasia as a live issue in a way that did not judge the morality of Erikson’s actions. AUSTRALIA---Artists play an important role in deepening our cultural imagination in a way that helps us to see and understand how religion is returning as a social and cultural force to be reckoned with and celebrated. The announcement of the winners of the Blake Prize for religious art is usually a welcome demonstration of the fact that corporate sponsors recognise the role religious imagination has to play in our society. Without a major sponsor for the past seven years the prize is in desperate need of a miracle to maintain its running costs of around $60,000. Pattenden spoke about the ‘big ...

THE JEWISH WEEK POLAND---The POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews occupies a shimmering, glass-walled building that faces a dramatic sculptural monument on the site of the Warsaw Ghetto and Warsaw’s main downtown Jewish district. Designed by the Finnish architect Rainer Mahlamaki, the building itself was opened to the public in April 2013. Its name, Polin, means “Poland” in Hebrew, but also derives from a legend that when the first Jews reached Polish lands they heard birds chirping the welcoming expression “Polin.” In Hebrew, Polin means “Here you should dwell.” [ link ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Doreen Carvajal The “Ecco Homo” fresco, left, at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mercy. Credit Arnau Bach for The New York Times SPAIN---After an 83-year-old widow and amateur painter tried her hand at restoring a nearly century-old fresco of Jesus crowned with thorns in her local church here, she faced nothing but scorn and ridicule. But these days, people in this village of medieval palaces and winding lanes in northeast Spain are giving the artist, Cecilia Giménez , and her work a miraculous reassessment. Grief has turned to gratitude for divine intervention — the blessing of free publicity — that has made Borja, a town of just 5,000, a magnet for thousands of curious tourists eager to see her handiwork, resurrecting the local economy. [ link ]

BLOUIN ART NEWS By Nicholas Forrest Still from “Worse luck I’m still here” (Blake Prize) AUSTRALIA---Melbourne-based artist Richard Lewer has been announced the winner of the 2014 Blake Prize for religious art, beating 51 other finalists chosen from more than 1000 submissions to take home the $25,000 prize for his hand-drawn digital animation “Worse luck I’m still here.” Sydney-based artist Emily Sandrussi won the $5,000 John Coburn Emerging Artist Award and Melbourne-based artist Hedy Ritterman won the $5,000 Human Justice Award. The Blake Prize is one Australia’s most prestigious art awards. [ link ]

CHIANGRAI TIMES  His pictures initially shocked many people as being blasphemous to the Buddhist religion and some of his early exhibitions were attacked. But many leading Thai intellectuals supported his work. Kukrit Pramoj for one claimed “his art is to be understood as giving life to myth.” TAIWAN---A Religious ceremony to observe the 100th day anniversary of the death of national artist Thawan Duchanee has taken place at Tawan’s residence and museum in Chiang Rai. Hundreds of people joined by artists, arts students from 18 districts throughout Chiang Rai, local people and Buddhist monks. Presiding over the rites was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Apinan Poshyananda. Tawan’s relics were paraded by his admirers and were installed in the wood castle in his residential compound by his son Doytibet Duchanee. High-ranking Buddhist monks of Chiang Rai performed the religious service for the late national artist. [ link ]

THE BOSTON GLOBE By Cate McQuaid Michael Bühler-Rose’s “Kumkumam & Turmeric.” MASSACHUSETTS---An altar sits in the center of Michael Bühler-Rose’s exhibition at Carroll and Sons. It’s not mentioned on the title list. Perhaps it’s not art at all. Bühler-Rose, a conceptual artist and a Hindu priest, explores the territory between art and religion. He makes the gallery his temple, threading his installation with religious import. He has lined the walls with indigo-striped fabric, a reference to stripes on the outsides of temples in South India. His lushly colored photographs portray elements of Hindu rituals. Both art and religion address the intangible; both are means of dealing with life’s difficulties. Both can be transcendent. Bühler-Rose’s work embraces all that, but he also cleverly prods at some of the great gulfs between the two. [ link ]

NEW HAMPSHIRE MAGAZINE The enclosed picture is a Russian Icon "Mother Of God of Vladimir" (wood, egg tempera, 23-k gold) by Marina Forbes. MAINE---Russian icon maker, teacher and lecturer, Marina Forbes , will offer "The Art of Icon Painting" workshop at the St. George's Episcopal Church in York, ME. There will be four-hour sessions on four Fridays: January 9, 16, 23 and 30 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is a hands-on studio workshop for students interested in learning how to create traditional Russian icons, one of the world's oldest and most respected forms of religious art. [ link ]

THE SIDNEY MORNING HERALD By Andrew Taylor Operatic: Fire Woman (2005) originally made for a production of Wagner's Tristan and Isolde. Photo: Kira Perov AUSTRALIA--- Bill Viola was six years old when he almost drowned. The renowned American video artist recalls his near-death experience with fondness, describing it as a moment of beauty rather than terror. Elements of this childhood memory can be seen in Viola's works that will be exhibited during the 2015 Adelaide Festival of Arts , which begins in February. The Messenger , originally commissioned for Durham Cathedral in 1996, features a young man rising repeatedly to the surface of a pool of water to gasp for breath before sinking again. Viola's work often appears to be drenched in piety. His videos may feature imagery inspired by Renaissance devotional art or bear religious titles. He frequently exhibits in churches. [ link ]

CBCNEWS By Eli Glasner HOLLYWOOD---Christian Bale strides into theatres this weekend as Moses in Ridley Scott's new biblical movie, "Exodus: Gods and Men." The sweeping computer-generated epic takes on one of the oldest stories ever told: Moses' courageous quest to free hundreds of thousands of Israelites from slavery in Egypt. But, in this telling, the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses is played by Australian actor Joel Edgerton and his mother by American actress Sigourney Weaver. Scott has been fighting criticism that the film's principal cast is too white but "a lack of racial diversity is the least of this film's problems," says CBC's film critic Eli Glasner. "Not to mention a climax on the Red Sea that is as preposterous as it is impressive." [ Video ]

THE ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By TAHLIB | Sunday Comments Only The Bible verse John 19:27 , "Behold your mother!" has inspired  the most Christian art  throughout history. "Madonna and Child" by Fra Filippo Lippi is one of those works now on view in Washington, DC. in the new exhibition " Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea ." This exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts  is part of the museums ongoing examination of humanist themes related to women. The Christmas season timing makes " Madonna and Child " (above) my  NEWS OF WEEK .

RELIGIONS NEWS By Jonathon Merritt The big budget Bible film hits American theaters on Friday, but it faces a few significant hurdles to winning over religious audiences. – Image courtesy of 21st Century Fox HOLLYWOOD---My hunch is that many religious moviegoers will be bothered to some degree by one or more of the aforementioned issues, but they’ll go see the film anyway. Religious people are as enamored by celebrity culture as any other group, and the big-name cast will draw many. It stays close enough to the Biblical narrative to feel like the Exodus story that most have imagined. And, it’s been more than half a century since Moses and Pharaoh tussled on the big screen, so this may be their only opportunity to see this story on film. While “Exodus” won’t gain the critical acclaim of “Noah” or the religious support of “Son of God,” it will probably earn more than those two films combined. [ link ]