DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51585#0156
152
EARLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
is the demoniac boy, convulsed and struggling in
the arms of his father. Two women, kneeling,
implore assistance; others are seen crying aloud
and stretching out their arms for aid. In the dis-
ciples of Jesus we see exhibited, in various shades
of expression, astonishment, horror, sympathy, pro-
found thought. One among them, with a benign
and youthful countenance, looks compassionately
on the father, plainly intimating that he can give
no help. The upper part of the picture represents
Mount Tabor: the three apostles lie prostrate,
dazzled, on the earth ; above them, transfigured in
glory, floats the divine form of the Saviour, with
Moses and Elias on either side. “ The twofold
action contained in this picture, to which shallow
critics have taken exception, is explained histo-
rically and satisfactorily merely by the fact that
the incident of the possessed boy occurred in the
absence of Christ; but it explains itself in a still
higher sense, when we consider the deeper universal
meaning of the picture. For this purpose it is not
even necessary to consult the books of the New
Testament for the explanation of the particular
incidents : the lower portion represents the cala-
mities and miseries of human life, the rule of de-
moniac power, the weakness even of the faithful
when unassisted, and directs them to look on high
for aid and strength in adversity. Above, in the
brightness of divine bliss, undisturbed by the suffer-
EARLY ITALIAN PAINTERS.
is the demoniac boy, convulsed and struggling in
the arms of his father. Two women, kneeling,
implore assistance; others are seen crying aloud
and stretching out their arms for aid. In the dis-
ciples of Jesus we see exhibited, in various shades
of expression, astonishment, horror, sympathy, pro-
found thought. One among them, with a benign
and youthful countenance, looks compassionately
on the father, plainly intimating that he can give
no help. The upper part of the picture represents
Mount Tabor: the three apostles lie prostrate,
dazzled, on the earth ; above them, transfigured in
glory, floats the divine form of the Saviour, with
Moses and Elias on either side. “ The twofold
action contained in this picture, to which shallow
critics have taken exception, is explained histo-
rically and satisfactorily merely by the fact that
the incident of the possessed boy occurred in the
absence of Christ; but it explains itself in a still
higher sense, when we consider the deeper universal
meaning of the picture. For this purpose it is not
even necessary to consult the books of the New
Testament for the explanation of the particular
incidents : the lower portion represents the cala-
mities and miseries of human life, the rule of de-
moniac power, the weakness even of the faithful
when unassisted, and directs them to look on high
for aid and strength in adversity. Above, in the
brightness of divine bliss, undisturbed by the suffer-