Book: “The Road” Essay: “The Sistine Madonna” Instigator: Thomas
The Reading: The Road by Vasily Grossman. Essay: “The Sistine Madonna” pages 163 – 174...
Okay Thomas: Kick things off by posting the first comment! Others please follow suit responding to Thomas' comment. :-)
3 comments:
After the last essay by Mr. Grossman, in which he vividly portrayed the very worst in humanity, the sistine Madonna, in contrast, offers a ray of hope for humanity. The age of Fascism he speaks of, where where 35 to 60 million people lost their lives, either being murdered by it or fighting against it, seems like a distant memory, something that could surely not happen again, but history tells a different story of repeated atrocities up to this day. Of course none of it on WW2 level, but when and what is the next tipping point?
In mr. Grossman's essay, he has a transformative experience after seeing in person the sistine Madonna, painted by Rapheal in 1514. The picture in the book is in black and white, so you don't get the full effect unless you see it in color. The madonna is clothed in flowing garments of bright and radiant blue and red. Her figure dominates the frame in a majestic way. Green curtains are parted at the upper corners. All primary colors. She stands barefoot on what looks like a cloud. Holding her child, the christ child. Mother and child. The beauty of the painting, according to Grossman, is that it is "tied to earthly life. It is democratic, human, and humane beauty." I will admit, it is quite beautiful. It reminds me of seeing Van Gogh's work in person, and the thick swirls of bright paint as if he was squeezing and swirling the wonder and pain of life onto a canvas.
Grossman draws our attention to the faces, which look directly out at the viewer, eyes unflinching but tinged with melancholy. Meeting their separate fates. And in their faces, he sees the faces of women and children at Treblinka, faces he couldn't imagine before, until gazing on the madonna and child, and their calm, sad, forlorn, longing expressions. Ultimately, what Grossman sees is our shared humanity, "the way everything that ever has lived and ever will live is linked to what is living now.." We are not in contrast to each other, but all in a continuum. Not separate but shared in our common fate. Easier said, then done, when wolves continue to prowl and howl at the door.
Three quick points…
First: Grossman shined a “soft” light on his own Soviet government when talking about the innocent (represented by Madonna and Son) “…[walking] forward on [their] own little bare feet to meet [their fate.” Asking if Stalin met “her” the innocent represented by Madonna “…during his [Stalin’s] years of exile in eastern Siberia.” And then asked did he [Stalin] “…think of her, later during the days of his grandeur?”
I surprised that the Soviets would allow for such a critique to be published. Then, I Iooked, and saw this was not published until 1998 in Russia after Grossman passed away in 1964. So, it was censored by the Soviets. That makes sense based on what I know of the Soviet Union.
Second: This story was chuck full of great quotes. The one Thomas noted jumped out at me as well as did this one. “The power of life, the power of what is human in man, is very great, and even the mightiest and most perfect violence cannot enslave this power; it can only kill it.” One thing that cannot be enslaved is our inner thoughts and beliefs. Grossman’s quote powerfully put makes this point.
I’ll call out a third point tomorrow and respond to Thomas’s comment.
Third Point - Reflecting on Thomas' quote ""the way everything that ever has lived and ever will live is linked to what is living now.." We are not in contrast to each other, but all in a continuum. Not separate but shared in our common fate. Easier said, then done, when wolves continue to prowl and howl at the door."
My first thought on Thomas' concern about considering ourselves as having a shared / common fate with our fellow man... "when wolves continue to prowl and howl at the door." I have a question for Thomas. Who are the wolves? We are tempted to think the wolf is the "other" the person or group that is not me. I think we each have a wolf in us. The first wolf we need to worry about is the wolf within us. Only after we are confident that we have tamed that wolf should we concern our-self with the "other" wolves out there. There is always the risk that we our-self is the wolf.
My second thought is that in Nazi occupied Europe the leaders created an environment where there was literally NO good choice for any human in these territories to make. Option 1: Fully embrace the Nazi agenda and ideal and willingly / gladly embrace evil. Option 2: Keep your head down and go along to get along. Implicitly accept the evil. To do otherwise, is to risk the torture and demise of yourself and your family and associates. This is a morally compromised position. Option 3: Resist and risk suffering. Option 4: Be the target of oppression just because of how you were born or raised.
These are truly wolfish options and is truly a wolfish existence. To Thomas' point, with only these options available, remembering our connected common fate is definitely easier said than done.
Further thoughts desired.
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