One painting; Two meanings
One painting; Two meanings
https://www.artsy.net/artwork/hans-holbein-the-younger-the-dead-christ-in-the-tomb
What can you relate to from this painting? What is your first thought? How did you feel when you stared at it?
For me, it was about the excruciating pain that the detail of Jesus’s body brought me to. I have lost my beloved grandfather a short while before I encountered this art piece. He was 92 years old. When I last saw his lifeless body lying on the bed, I felt so painful I was unable to express it. He was gone. He was no longer with me. I remember the night before he passed away, he came and visited me in my dream and said goodbye. I woke up to this dream at 4am, and texted my mum. She replied in the morning and said grandpa was still moving. But in the evening, I received a call from my dad that my grandpa, his father, had passed away.
Snapping back to the moment, now he has definitely gone, and his lifeless body looked exactly like Christ’s body in the painting. Even the skin color, the half-closed eyes and mouth were so grotesquely and realistically depicted. I was so used to grandpa’s gaze, movement and voice. I can no longer experience those expressions of love. His skin was also no longer alive. I didn’t have the strength to touch him again. Everything between me and my grandpa has certainly ended.
Everyone knows how Jesus’ story unfolded. His lifeless body is resurrected. He conquered death and raised to Heaven. I was trying hard to hold this hope.
But for Ben, the meaning was vastly different. The painting reminded him of a Netflix documentary about a painter in a rural village in China. In the documentary, the painters’ life was dedicated to earning a living through copying Van Gogh’s masterpieces. Over time, he was determined to see Van Gogh’s true masterpiece. He eventually saved enough money to see the real masterpiece in the Netherlands. During his encounter with the authentic art, he was so transformed by the masterpieces that he can no longer copy Van Gogh’s paintings. Instead, he can paint only his works. The documentary ends with him starting painting about the scenery of his own village with impressionism . In short, the art piece of dead Christ itself doesn’t have meaning for Ben, but through my sharing, he is associated with the Netflix documentary that inspired him profoundly.
What about you? Do you feel equally transformed or affected by this masterpiece?
originally post in Nous