Are there any convincing portraits of heaven in art?

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If it is effective, is it always an absence, a blinding white light, etc?

I'm basically curious what different kinds of heavens have been imagined. Any art form will do.

― ryan (ryan), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Suppose it's all dependent on what it would take to convince you.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:36 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.bostonyouthzone.com/teenzone/employment/MuralCrew/Sargent/Heaven.jpg

― papa november (papa november), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I refuse to believe heaven consists of members of the Polyphonic Spree floating around.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:39 (twenty-one years ago)

c'mon, you know it's true

― papa november (papa november), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:39 (twenty-one years ago)

well i guess by "convincing" i mean in combination what's convincing to you and stuff that is close to, you know, reasonable. (Like not sitting on clouds, or whatever. maybe that's reasonable to you, so "convincing" is a poor word choice.) I don't have an agenda here, just curious about interesting depictions of heaven.

― ryan (ryan), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:40 (twenty-one years ago)

There are lots of very interesting and lovely depictions of heaven, but the problem lies in the idea of heaven (in Christian thought anyway). Some Christians do believe in a mundane, physical heaven, but most theologians have favoured more mystical ideas. If heaven is a union with God, who can be said to be ineffable, it means heaven can't be described either. Depictions of heaven in art tend to be symbolic, I think.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:42 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.finepostersmadison.com/College/dogsplaypokersST2502C.jpg

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:42 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/graham/communities/photos/kmart.jpg

― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:42 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think they have any paintings of Ally yet.

― TOMBOT, Friday, 29 October 2004 00:44 (twenty-one years ago)

ohhhhh how sweet.

PUKE

― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:45 (twenty-one years ago)

There's those krishna style pics of heaven on earth with all the animals around krishna in a verdant field, type of thing..

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:45 (twenty-one years ago)

i think of things like this:
http://members.aol.com/mindwebart4/agnes.jpg
rather then this:
http://www.initaly.com/regions/friuli/pix/tiepolo/assumpt.jpg

― anthony, Friday, 29 October 2004 00:48 (twenty-one years ago)

those are both pretty interesting i think. one is of course static and the other is rather dynamic.

― ryan (ryan), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I've always thought School of Athens to be an excellent idea of heaven (although I'd want more women).

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:55 (twenty-one years ago)

School of Athens looks like too much work. I thought Heaven might be about taking a break from thinking 'bout stuff.

― papa november (papa november), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Spencer OTM

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 29 October 2004 00:57 (twenty-one years ago)

the martin isnt static at all, it just hums instead of sings

― anthony, Friday, 29 October 2004 01:05 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, you're right. it's beautiful.

― ryan (ryan), Friday, 29 October 2004 02:16 (twenty-one years ago)

ihttp://master.mx-targeting.com/mx/servlet/MXTarget?adcontext=http://ilx.p3r.net/thread.php?msgid%3D5188658&contextpeak=13943&contextcount=13943&countrycodein=US&lastAdTime=1099039669|1098769786|1099034843|1098424934|1096784434|0|0|1099034463|0|&lastAdCode=1&cookie1=capdate%3D295%26capdatedy%3D1029%26lupgtry%3D1%26lupgid%3D153%26lupgdt%3D1087589993623%26lflshdt%3D1087195292%26lstkywd%3Dlive+at+pe%26lstlogdt%3D20041029%26cntp%3Dcable%26capcnt%3D0%26capcntdy%3D7%26&cookie2=lastlstdt%3D1087589993624%26rtmr%3D303%26fstcidt%3D1087195292401%26rcntr%3D5%26&cookie3=1;1099039616;4727:1990784:5229:3136:4322:2061184:2462:47104:2859:81280:2856:81664:5127:2297856:3310:59392:5220:52992:5125:2327936:

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Friday, 29 October 2004 07:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Got a picture of your house
And you're standing by the door
It's black and white and faded
And it's looking pretty worn

See the factory that I worked
Silhouetted in the back
The memories are gray
but man they're really coming back

I don't need to be the king of the world
As long as I'm the hero of this little girl

Heaven isn't too far away
Closer to it every day
No matter what your friends might say...

How I love the way you move
And the sparkle in your eyes
There's a color deep inside them
Like a blue surburban sky

When I come home late at night
And you're in bed asleep
I wrap my arms around you
So I can feel you breathe

I don't need to be a superman
As long as you will always be my biggest fan

Heaven isn't too far away
Closer to it every day
No matter what your friends might say
We'll find a way
whoa yeah, babe

Now the lights are going out
Along the boulevard
The memories come rushing back
and it makes it pretty hard

I've got nowhere left to go
And no one really cares
I don't know what to do
But I'm never giving up on you

Heaven isn't too far away
Closer to it every day (ah-ah)
No matter what your friends say
I know we're gonna find a way

Heaven
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Heaven
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
Heaven
It's not too far away
oh-oh
whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh
yeah
Related:

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Saturday, 30 October 2004 16:52 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

I've always wanted heaven to be like 8 1/2

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Friday, 27 October 2006 21:49 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.hughpearman.com/articles/bus.htm

― art vandelay (what?), Friday, 27 October 2006 22:16 (nineteen years ago)

I've always wanted heaven to be like 8 1/2

The spa? The harem? The unfinished set?

― joggin' with the devil (kenan), Friday, 27 October 2006 23:02 (nineteen years ago)

the anxiety and confusion?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 27 October 2006 23:05 (nineteen years ago)

Exactly. Maybe heaven could be in b&w, but that's as far as I'd want the similarity to go.

― joggin' with the devil (kenan), Friday, 27 October 2006 23:32 (nineteen years ago)

http://img473.imageshack.us/img473/251/death2mu.jpg

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Friday, 27 October 2006 23:35 (nineteen years ago)

xxxpost Gotta admit, that's a pretty damn fine bus station.

― joggin' with the devil (kenan), Friday, 27 October 2006 23:35 (nineteen years ago)

not what the poster asked for, but I can't recommend Diane Keaton's "Heaven" strongly enough, it's a really fun, very strange film that edits together interviews with strange people talking about their conceptions of heaven cut in with footage of various filmic depictions of the place. was blown away when Keaton's debut as a film director produced a Negativland-inspired piece of cut-up weirdness, it's not at all like her later films like "Baby Boom".

http://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Swami-Prem-Amitabh/dp/B000066748

― milton parker (Jon L), Friday, 27 October 2006 23:59 (nineteen years ago)

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/8091/biggieandtupacrw8.jpg

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Saturday, 28 October 2006 00:09 (nineteen years ago)

Heaven.

Heaven is a place.

A place where nothing.

Nothing ever happens.

― It's the lazy and immoral way to become super hip. (Austin, Still), Saturday, 28 October 2006 00:44 (nineteen years ago)

I was just in Marfa, TX, saw some Robert Irwin shit...it made me think how sad all portraits ofheaven make me. They're all so antiseptic and absent of warmth...I never really saw how streets of gold or whatever prophets have promised is supposed to be appealing.

― Abbott (Abbott), Saturday, 28 October 2006 03:59 (nineteen years ago)

heaven is such an odd concept to begin with

― latebloomer: Winner of the Congressional Medal of....UGLY (latebloomer), Saturday, 28 October 2006 06:00 (nineteen years ago)

http://planettom.home.mindspring.com/images/hopper.nighthawks.jpg

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Saturday, 28 October 2006 09:41 (nineteen years ago)

No, wait:

http://www.nuncoo.com/blog/archives/nighthawks.jpg

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Saturday, 28 October 2006 09:41 (nineteen years ago)

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