a soul-mirror gaze of deep understanding, unjudging.
That face, in extremis, would have clenched its teeth
in a grimace not shown in even the great crucifixions.
Not even the greatest artists, poet Denise Levertov suggests in these lines from her recent poem “Salvator Mundi: Via Crucis,” have succeeded in expressing the anguish of Jesus’ last moments.
But just what did Jesus suffer?
The Gospels themselves give differing accounts: Matthew and Mark record that before his death Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). But the Gospel of John records simply, “When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30). In the former stories Jesus feels abandoned; in the latter, he accepts his fate.
The 15th-century German sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider, in his many crucifixion carvings, always depicted Jesus with his head bowed, his eyes cast down, following John’s account. So it is in this plaster cast—the only remnant of a 1497 Riemenschneider crucifix that hung in front of the altar of the Würzburg Cathedral until the building—and most of the city—was destroyed by fire in 1945. The 150-year-old cast, probably made for a museum by the sculptor Andreas Halbig, replicates the half-closed eyes, furrowed brow and slightly open mouth of Riemenschneider’s original.
A dark, still young, very intelligent face,
a soul-mirror gaze of deep understanding, unjudging.
That face, in extremis, would have clenched its teeth
You have already read your free article for this month. Please join the BAS Library or become an All Access member of BAS to gain full access to this article and so much more.
