I recently stood with some friends in front of a painting by Lucas Cranach at Friedenstein Castle in Gotha, Germany. The painting depicts Christ and Mary against an indistinct dark background, as if emerged from the ether. Just their head and shoulders are painted, with garments as soft and dark as the background. Mary is young and not the one who is the mother of God; she’s the other one. Christ has a presence that only pain can generate in us. Two faces look at us, looking at them. Mirrored beholding.
I am not afraid; I feel safe with them. They do not judge anything, and yet they hear everything. They know every aspect of us and yet, each time, they see us anew as we begin to see, feel, understand, and ask questions. He looks directly at us, while she listens inwardly and senses our inner stirring. It is as if both their gazes have become one body—a beholding-knowing body, perhaps?
While we wonder and talk, we make a charming slip of the tongue that does not seem to happen by chance, even if it is completely unconscious. We are talking about something, which leads to “immaculate conception” [unbefleckte Empfängnis], but what comes out is “immaculate knowing” [unbefleckte Erkenntnis.] There’s a moment of surprised amusement and then the gem is revealed. What on earth could that be? Are “immaculate insights” perhaps what will be possible in the future, because they arise among a group of people who can each see, feel, perceive, and be consciously aware of themselves and the other at the same time? Beholding and being aware of themselves beholding? Insights received, felt, and found in and by you and me?
Translation Laura Liska
Image Christus und Maria [Christ and Mary], Lucas Cranach the Elder, Friedenstein Castle Gotha Foundation / Ducal Museum
ja man sieht viel mehr im ‘blick’ from anderem, als in sein eigenen ..