Gift of the Atonement

Brian T. Kershisnik, Cat Gift, 2000. Oil on paper mounted on wood panel. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by Lew and Gail Burnham

Kershisnik’s painting, Cat Gift, can be considered a modern day parable of man’s response to Christ’s atoning sacrifice. In the painting, a man on his hands and knees offers a morsel to the cat that completely ignores the kind gesture. Just as cats are notoriously aloof to well-intentioned offerings, so mankind is often dismissive of the supernal gift of the Atonement. The artist has included a cropped figure at the top of the painting. The figure’s bare feet signify that this is holy ground and that the domestic scene unfolding below has sacred implications.