The Road to Emmaus by William Strang

This post was my Contemplative Art post for 17th May 2025

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Today, 17th May, is a date of great personal significance for me as it is the day in 2019 that my companions and I finally reached Santiago de Compostela following a five week pilgrimage across northern Spain. 

At the beginning, we hadn't known each other. By the end, we were close friends, happily walking, laughing, and sharing with each other.

In light of the date, where else could I go for this Contemplative Art post than one that showed pilgrimage. This etching is by Scottish artist William Strang. It is very simple. Two men of different classes (as shown by their clothes) and health (the man on the left is bent over and holding a stick, while the fellow on the right walks unaided) walk with Jesus in the middle. 

The Road to Emmaus was produced at the start of the modern art period. Fortunately, I think it manages to avoid the cringiness of later artists in this age when representing Our Lord. You'll note also that Jesus not only has His arm around the man in poor health but is turned away from the other. Could this illustration be implying that He is only walking with one of the pilgrims? I am still wondering this. I should note, however, that the Sacred Art Pilgrim website states that He is walking with 'the contemporary dispossessed'. There is no suggestion there that Jesus has rejected the man on the right.

As I view Strang's etching, I am reminded, therefore, that as we go through the pilgrimage of our lives, Jesus is for rich and poor, those in good health and not, for the dispossessed; He's for all of us. This image, therefore, is an image of great hope and mercy. Well worth dwelling on.