Jesus Painting Restored at Merchant Marine Academy

A painting of Jesus comforting sailors adrift at sea is being returned to a prominent place in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. The Biden administration had relegated the 81-year-old painting, “Christ On The Water,” to the basement.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called for the return during a speech at the Merchant Marine Academy last month. “Can we bring Jesus up from the basement?” he said, according to “The Daily Wire.” “Let’s not put Jesus in the basement. Let’s get him out. Let’s bring him up.”

In 1947, the painting was installed in the Merchant Marine Academy’s Wiley Hall Elliot See Room where it was displayed until 2023, when the Biden administration moved it because of a complaint from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wrote a letter to Duffy that praised his decision.

Historical significance

“Your public acknowledgment of the painting’s spiritual and historical significance was a powerful moment of moral clarity and leadership — one that resonated not only with the midshipmen in attendance but with countless Americans who care deeply about preserving our nation’s religious and military heritage,” he wrote. “Your statement — ’Can we bring Jesus up from the basement?’ –was more than rhetorical. I trust it will be seen as an imperative. Thank you for your principled leadership, for defending our nation’s religious heritage, and for working to ensure that this government-commissioned memorial is returned to its rightful place.”

Cruz said the removal of the painting had no legal basis and was an example of the academy being hostile to religion.

“Its sudden concealment in 2023, done hastily in response to a single baseless complaint, did a great disservice to the academy’s heritage and to the memory of those the painting was meant to honor,” he wrote “To this day, no legal rationale has been provided, and the painting is reportedly out of public view in a flood-prone basement.”

–Alan Goforth