Uvi Poznansky Presents Next Inspired by Art Series - The Edge of Revolt

Unlike the first two of these wonderful books, this third in series covers a number of different issues in King David's life. I decided to begin with the Book Description:

Inspired by Art: The Edge of Revolt is a collection of art throughout the ages, around the story of David. This volume focuses on the rape of his daughter Tamar by her half-brother Amnon; the assassination of Amnon at the hands of her brother Absalom; and Absalom’s revolt, trying to topple David from his throne.

These amazing sculptures, paintings, etchings, and manuscripts inspired the author to write The David Chronicles, a series of three volumes, the second of which is A Peek at Bathsheba, where she imagines the love affair and the ensuing scandal. Besides being an artist and having worked as an architect, she taught art history, and this collection served as the basis for a study course analyzing the contrasts in viewpoints around the biblical story.

This collection is arranged not by artist, nor by artistic style or era, but rather by the story moment-by-moment, blow-by-blow, as imagined by various artists. Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Chagall, Frederic Lord Leighton and Jan Steen to name but a few.

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Consider as you open this latest book that you have entered an art gallery with various rooms based upon topic, as opposed to artist... We have seen David and Goliath in the first room, Then the next room is what happened after the fall of the giant...

David became King and we move into his daily life... and are immediately faced with David's Triumph by Raffaello Sanzio, with a somewhat daunting prophecy. And certainly what follows seems to support the statement that the sword would never depart his house...

Nathan the Prophet to David

Now, therefore, the sword will never depart your house...

And it began in the cruelest way... by his son, Amnon attempting to seduce his sister, Tamar, in the painting by Guercino. Graphic accounts thereafter depicts Amnon's attempts continuing until he rapes Tamar and then demands she leave home... portrayed in Desolation of Tamar by James Tissot

It is Absalom who consoles Tamar who has become pregnant by her brother and begins to talk...of revenge... and death... as we study the painting by Mattia Preti, entitled Absalom's Feast 

For me, Study for 'The Assassination of Amnon at the feast of Absalom'  by Guercino proved to be the most dramatic, and I believe, included the main characters involved....

Unfortunately, and with sorrow, I deplore that this is history not a fictional novel being illustrated...

So how was this murder handled? Page after page tells the story as it is written as well as envisioned by multiple painters, but I wondered, how would it also end in today's world, for in the end King David was left with neither of his sons...

And his advisors said to get over mourning... and the result of that demand is poignantly presented... which included the potential response by David...  "Oh that I had the wings of a dove! For then I would fly away and be at rest" painted by Frederic Lord Leighton.

As the book ends, we see The Prophet David by Camillo Boccaccio where we find the older David placing his foot on the head of Goliath...

Was he, perhaps, lamenting that he had ever picked up the sword to kill Goliath... Was he, I wondered, really meant to walk up to the Giant, offer his hand in friendship, and speak of love and not hate? Had he listened to man with their fears rather than to God? Would things be different today if that was really what was to happen? I wondered and thought that this book just might be more important than many will realize... Just my opinion, of course... What do you think?

I found the following song which I found quite applicable in this and in other situations... 

Like David, looking back to what his life had been, and then began to wonder how God could still love him when he may not have listened to God's commands to love one another?  For me, it felt right...it felt true... 

Needless to say, I believe and highly recommend that you check out not only this book, but the entire series...as the visual stories speak to us of King David's life...


GABixlerReviews

Uvi Poznansky is a bestselling, award-winning author, poet and artist. “I paint with my pen,” she says, “and write with my paintbrush.” Her romance boxed set, A Touch of Passion, is the 2016 WINNER of The Romance Reviews Readers' Choice Awards.

Education and work:
Uvi earned her B. A. in Architecture and Town Planning from the Technion in Haifa, Israel and practiced with an innovative Architectural firm, taking a major part in the large-scale project, called Home for the Soldier.

Having moved to Troy, N.Y. with her husband and two children, Uvi received a Fellowship grant and a Teaching Assistantship from the Architecture department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. There, she guided teams in a variety of design projects and earned her M.A. in Architecture. Then, taking a sharp turn in her education, she earned her M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Michigan.

She worked first as an architect, and later as a software engineer, software team leader, software manager and a software consultant (with an emphasis on user interface for medical instruments devices.) All the while, she wrote and painted constantly, and exhibited in Israel and California. In addition, she taught art appreciation classes. Her versatile body of work includes bronze and ceramic sculptures, oil and watercolor paintings, charcoal, pen and pencil drawings, and mixed media.

Books and Genres:
Her two series won great acclaim. Still Life with Memories is a family saga series with touches of romance. It includes Apart From Love, My Own Voice, The White Piano, The Music of Us, and Dancing with Air. The David Chronicles is a historical fiction series. It includes Rise to Power, A Peek at Bathsheba, and The Edge of Revolt.

Her poetry book, Home, is in tribute to her father. Her collection of dark tales, Twisted, and her Historical Fiction book, A Favorite Son, are both new age, biblically inspired books. In addition, Uvi wrote and illustrated two children books, Jess and Wiggle and Now I Am Paper. For each one of these books, she created an animation video (find them on YouTube and on her Goodreads page.)