Monastic painter honors Native-American spirituality

December 18, 2009 [Episcopal News Service] Living a lonely life after the dissolution of his small monastic community in Connecticut 20 years ago, the Rev. John Giuliani came to the realization that he had to do something creative to keep himself productive.

"It was a time when people were beginning to talk about how they would celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the Americas," he said. "Being Italian and a priest, I felt some kind of inherited complicity with the demise of Native-American culture on this continent and thought, 'Perhaps, I can make reparation, a very personal one.'"

So Giuliani, a master of classical literature and art before he laid aside his work as an artist to enter a Roman Catholic seminary and then the world of academia, returned to his paints and began an effort to represent Native Americans as the first spiritual presence in the land.

He said he was drawn to them by the gravity and soberness of their presence and by their calm presence that he tried to render in his icons.

"My intent was to honor Native Americans by depicting them as Christian saints to acknowledge their original spiritual presence here," said the 77-year-old priest who studied iconography at New York's School of Sacred Art.

"It was like the floodgates opened, and I began painting from morning to night," he said, describing one year in which he completed more than 20 works.

Described by one bishop as a "visual missionary," Giuliani traveled through Montana, South Dakota and southern states, creating images of Navajo, Hopi, Lakota and Crow as early saints. His works now adorn many churches, across the country and have been viewed by thousands in galleries and exhibitions of religious art, including the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. He received the Mother Teresa Award in 2007 as American Religious Artist, especially for his work in the field of Native American spirituality.

"Many Native Americans have been converted to Christianity, but in doing so some find it difficult to retain their indigenous culture," he said. "My intent is to celebrate reconciliation between the Native Americans and those who brought the mystery of Christ here."

An exhibition of John Giuliani's work can be viewed until Jan. 13 at St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church in New York.

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