ignored, as the picture somehow seems to revolve around him. He is kneeling in front of the other man, who’s hand is placed atop of his head. The kneeling subject has his hands pointing upwards, his head is bowed, and appears to be wearing clothing of perhaps a ceremonial nature . The up turned hands suggest that he is about to receive something important, the bowed head implies reverence and respect. The fact that the other man is placing his hand on his head means that something is being passed on. From the clues that have been gathered thus far, many conclusions can be made about the painting. It is no mystery now that some sort of religious or spiritual ceremony is going on. “Baptism Mural”, in the name alone fills in a major piece of the puzzle. With a basic understanding of what baptism is, it is now as plain as day what is taking place. This is a story of the baptism of Jesus Christ. Jesus is represented as the man kneeling humbly before the man in the robe, John the baptist. His divine authority is shown with golden trim on his robe, and the item contained in his hand. The bird is symbolic of the dove, or presence of the Holy Spirit. Finally the face that looks down over the painting is God the Father, emanating his approval of the baptism of his only begotten Son. It is interesting to note the representation of such a Christian event in a style of art characteristically created by non-Christians. This makes a very loud statement about the way we look at art. We have learned that it is a good idea to remove any preconceived notions or stereotypes before fully being able to understand a work of art.
“Shaman Apprentice” lends itself nicely in comparison to the previous piece. They both deal with subject matter that