Hello, my name is Megan Nauer, and I am the Marketing and Communications Coordinator. Today, I will be reading the Christian Themes section panel for David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History along with label text and audio descriptions for one highlighted work.

Driskell often stated that “art is a priestly calling” and his artistry has deep roots in his Christian spiritual practice. The son of a Baptist minister, he was informed by his father’s sermons as well as his own experiences in the Congregational Church for more than forty years. Biblical themes were a consistent source of inspiration from the 1950s forward. Inspired by his father’s sketches of angels, they become a frequent theme in his works such as Gabriel and his later Let the Church Roll On. Driskell’s abiding interest in Byzantine art is reflected in the flatness and frontal posture of figures that recall Christian icons.