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| The Visitation 1926, cast 1958 |
I thought this statue had to be a rip off of the alien images of the 70s and 80s like the image on Strieber's 'Communion' novel.
But no, it wasn't, because this statue was conceived in 1926 and cast in 1958.
And according to the artist is meant to be about the Virgin Mary delivering the good news to Elizabeth about John the Baptist ... and the immaculate conception?
The only reason I stumbled across this spooky looking statue was that I saw a poster of the snowman in a fridge in the gift shop of the Queensland Art Gallery and asked the lady behind the counter just where the snowman was, and she pointed out into the courtyard.
Pity the coffee shop out in the courtyard was closed when I was there, as I could have used a coffee to wake me up after my long walk through the city ... maybe there is a water fountain
out there?-)
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| Water?! |
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| Iconic work from the Water exhibition? |
So, I went out to snap a few photos to show my sons that there was a snowman at the art gallery for an Australien 2021 summertime Christmas.
I had never been out into the courtyard before, and apart from the snowman it looked rather boring.
Elizabeth is revered as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church on November 5, and in the Orthodox and Anglican traditions on September 5, on the same day with her husband Zacharias/Zechariah.
Now when I remember the 5th of November I'll be thinking of 'The Visitation' I think:-)
Ironically, my visit to the CBD on Monday was to get a copy of my birth certificate to use as a primary legal document I needed to identify myself, but that's for a future post maybe:-)
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| Is that the Australian PM ScoMo in disguise?-) |
But as I turned around to head back into the air-conditioning of the art gallery a statue to my right caught my eye and started sending chills down my spine.
'The Visitation'. This was an event recorded in the Bible, where the Virgin Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth to share with her the news that she is to give birth to Jesus. Epstein described this figure as expressing ' a humility so profound as to shame the beholder who comes to my sculpture expecting rhetoric or splendour of gesture'. When he first exhibited it he called it 'A Study' so as to diguise its content.
What I can't work out is whether the statue is meant to be the Virgin Mary visiting Elizabeth or Elizabeth being visited by Mary ... or something else altogether?
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| November 5th?! |
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| Communion (1989 film) |
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| Sir Jacob Epstein KBE |
UPDATE: December 2021
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