Saint Anthony of Padua Reviving the Drowned Child

Gerard David (1460-1523)

Lecture

Today we’re turning to the Dutch,
Their colors pale yet absolute.
Take these figures: each one graced
With calm. The two men’s doublets flute
Where girdles gather in the waist
Of sendal you can almost touch.

See how much the artist sees:
That asphodel in silhouette
Against the flat grey buckram makes
A symbol: here’s the world, offset
By how the saint’s stiff habit breaks
Like chiseled stone about his knees.

Observe observed details: the cuff
Of Anthony’s right sleeve turned back
Like cuffs you might see anywhere.
Your own, perhaps. The artist’s knack
Domesticates the scene: we share
In what’s familiar. That’s enough.

Monday, the Northern Renaissance
And Bosch: his Garden of Delights.
That’s chapter fifteen in your text.
Could someone there please get the lights?
There’s normal office hours next
Two weeks, if anybody wants.

Meditation

The artificial postures of tableau:
A grey Franciscan kneels
  To greet the muzzy child who steps
Toward him. Matins peals
  From the church behind, perhaps.
There’s so much a picture cannot show.

They could be at Mass: the act of love
Not witnessed but observed.
  Yes, the wimpled sister prays
But no one seems unnerved.
  Still, summoned, the child obeys,
Whatever others may be thinking of.

And then tableau transmutes to trompe l’oeil,
The frame a doorway now:
  Four perfect strangers (counting you)
Comprehending how,
  Retrieved, so far from new
He’s given back himself before he fell.