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One of my favorite paintings by John Singer Sargent is Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. It hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. Two girls in white dresses stand in a garden, surrounded by flowers. They light paper lanterns as daylight fades. We see, not the sun, but its glow, as it slips out of sight for the night.
Sargent was staying with artist friends in Broadway, a village in Worcestershire, England, when he painted the girls, ages seven and 11. He worked on the painting for only two to three minutes each day from September through early November 1885 and then again during the summer of 1886. He wanted to capture the moment just before daylight disappeared. To prepare, he sketched the girls’ positions in the garden.
Every evening, when the time was right, the adults abandoned their game of lawn tennis to help arrange the lanterns and the girls, who were sometimes bribed with treats to give up their play for a few minutes and pose.
“The whole day seemed to lead up to this period, so much did everyone become interested as the picture grew and its beauty developed,” one of the guests at Broadway recalled.
The painting and its creation remind me of the pageants that fill churches with shepherds and wise men during the last days of Advent. Tinsel halos turn children into angels. Sometimes a realy baby from the congregation becomes Jesus—just for a while. As we await the arrival of the Christ child, we come together to create moments of beauty, wonder, and hope.
The words Laborare est honorare are etched onto Sargent’s gravestone: “To work is to pray.” We practice and prepare and remain patient until the time is right.
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