Blog # 2 - Simple things make complex statements

Sometimes I'm amazed at how saying very little can speak volumes. In this case, Rogier van der Wyden's Descent of Christ from the Cross was astonishingly powerful in its seeming simplicity.

At first glance, this is a heart-rendering depiction of Christ's death and those who mourned around him. Yet the placement of specific people in specific places representing specific functionality which is inherent in the picture show a much deeper meaning that first appears on the surface. In this week's lecture we went through the atmosphere of confusion and instability in the poses of Christ and Mary, both of them supine, and Mary's utter helplessness to combat her grief and misery. Yet the three people and even the cross itself somehow provides a border to their pain and shows a semblance of stability even during the grief. And I never would have suspected that John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene's positions were parenthetical, or enclosing the others, perhaps in protective fashion? Stunning effect that would have gone right over my head had I not listened to the lecture! The fact that each of these people were important figures of their time and to Christ himself shows the solidarity the artist is trying to reveal, and it comes across in such a simple manner it would be very easy to miss the true intent.

I wonder how many other "simple" things I've overlooked because I'm not looking in the right place or with the right set of wondering eyes?