Analysis Of The Text 'Samuel Willard: Two Sermons'

The text “Samuel Willard: Two Sermons” describes the adversity of the Puritan leader Samuel Willard to the religious faith expressed through visual images. Across two sermons, respectively “Enquiry into the Divine Attributes, 1689” and “What Is Forbidden in the Second Commandment, 1701”, Willard argues why any images created to represent God is wrong, sustaining his arguments with Biblical passages that indicate the historical errors of creating idols (visual images) for worshiping religious faiths. In the first sermon, Samuel Willard states that pictures and images cannot reflect the God or other religious values or religious episodes, because the shapes of God, the Spirits or the Angels are unknown to humans. He catalogues any attempt to

represent Divine figures through portraiture as gestures of madness and wickedness (3), because such attempt violates the second command and dishonors God by creating a false image to represent Him.
The second sermon deepens the teachings of the second commandment that forbids worshiping God by images.

The religious leader of the seventeenth century New England reminds cruel events that occurred across the human history due to worshiping images of God and ended in human sacrifice brought to human – created images for Spirits, referring to the Egyptian or the Israelite imitation of Gods. Willard states that associating God with humans-created images is the work of evil, which further influences people to evil acts, such as the human sacrifice.
Samuel Willard takes this position for discouraging people to bow to false representations of God and to stop an old and pagan practice of human sacrifice. His sermons teach people to praise God as a shapeless and figureless Spirit, focusing on the real values of the religious faith, such as piety, goodness or moral conduct, which cannot be portrayed.
2. Generally Speaking why did John Singleton Copley (1738-1815), Benjamin West (1738-1820), and R.G. Bruce have this extended correspondence? What was Copley trying to accomplish? What did West say about his work? What do these letters tell us about life for painters in colonial

America?
The correspondence between John Singleton Copley, Benjamin West and R.G. Bruce had the main purpose of positioning Copley as a reputable artist through his paintings. While Bruce acted as the artist’s manager at the time of the letter exchange, Benjamin West was more of his critic and artistic guide, helping him to get across the major European art exhibitions, sponsored by the art lovers of the time. Both Bruce and West present the positive reactions that Copley’s first painting enjoyed in Europe, writing with enthusiasm about the fact that it was received with pleasure, encouraging him to create a new piece, for a new exhibition. West provided the artist constructive criticism referring to his first painting, referring to the righteousness of the lines, which created an effect of coldness. He also requested the young artist to draw another painting in oil, portraying two figures, of a boy and a girl, inspired by nature. Copley replied to West, welcoming his advices and help, but stating that he could only produce one portrait in the given time. However, as the letters indicate, the second painting did not enjoy the same success as the first.
Both West and Bruce recommend Copley to leave America, where he was located, and come to Europe, in order to get into contact with the vibrant European art, which set the tone in art at that time. Copley was trying to become a renowned artist, but at the same time, he was aiming to accomplish a decent living through his art, supporting his family, as the letters indicate. As he calculated, going to Europe would not help him to achieve this purpose. Copley’s comments about his life in America as a painter suggest the difficulty to strive as an artist in colonial America.
3. How does the writer John Galt characterize Benjamin West’s trip to Rome? According to Galt, how did the Romans at first perceive him and why? How did West respond when asked to give an opinion on the statue of the god Apollo? How does this response confirm West’s “American” identity?
John Galt reproduces Benjamin West’s trip to Rome with enthusiasm, characterizing it as the journey towards the artistic formation of the young American painter.

Galt describes West’s insatiable thirst for getting to know the European art, studying it day and night and discovering the imitation of the glorious antiquity in Michelangelo or Rafael’s works.
Romans initially perceived West as an American Quaker, as his appearance was nothing similar to the Romans’ looks, as a comparison between the old but glorious Rome and the young, vigorous, active and simple America. His interest towards the religious art subjects is what might have influenced the Romans to perceive West as a Quaker. Moreover, the Cardinal Albani thought of him to be an Indian, associating America with savage, dark people and to his surprise he came to meet a fair American, deceiving his

expectations.
When he was asked to give his opinion on the statue of God Apollo, West replied in admiration “My God, how like it is to a young Mohawk warrior” (Galt 39), referring to the strength, manhood, wilderness and connectivity with nature that the Mohawk Indians exerted. With this comparison, West described how the statue of the God Apollo made him feel, describing in a natural, and somehow innocent manner the greatness of the Roman art. The resemblance that West saw between the statue of Apollo and the Mohawk Indians indicated his American identity, formed as entering in contact with the Native Americans, admiring them for their manhood, dexterity and free spirits. The accurate description of the Mohawk Indians demonstrates his consciousness of his American identity, being proud to compare Apollo with the Native Americans.