In the Museum of Fine...
Illustration
In the Museum of Fine Arts in Buda-pest, Hungary, there hangs a most captivating painting, Sleeping Girl (attributed to Domenico Fetti about 1615). One of many works produced by Renaissance Venetian artists, it is among canvasses that have been called the glories of Western art. The girl, probably in her twenties, is resting with eyes closed on a mattress. Is she asleep or is she quietly savoring the moment deep in her soul? Her dark hair cascades onto her shoulders in gentle waves with pearls and flowers laced throughout. Her blouse is silk with a frilly cuff, caressing smooth, soft arms. Her eyebrows are thick over sensually painted eyelids. Is she a girl who has worked more during the night than during the day -- and on soft cushions -- pleasing others whom we do not see in the painting? As one gazes upon her, it cannot help but be noticed that her nose is reddened, as if recently crying, perhaps over past sins that have stolen her youth. Yet her forehead shows no furrows, nor are her lips turned down in sadness, as if she has just experienced something greater than her past, that covers her past as white and graceful as the hanky she holds in her left hand. There is a spirit of complete rest and satisfaction that emanates from her, as if she is in the presence of one who has held her gently with full acceptance. "And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that Jesus was in the house, stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair... Then he said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven... go in peace.' "
-- Molldrem
-- Molldrem
