Now the paintings are painted
And the photographs published,
What is the truth
About sacrifice?
In the National Gallery,
According to Raphael,
When Christ died,
Angels danced on clouds
And the gentle blue haze
Of the distant landscape,
Melted serenely into sky.
In Colmar,
Grunewald rendered suffering
With a more brutal palette.
The fingers twist in grotesque horror,
His skin is torn.
The physical pain
And suffering,
Appears so real.
Then, yesterday, on the train,
I saw him again.
A tiny golden crucifix
Around the neck
Of the girl opposite.
She twisted it nervously
In her white fingers
As she read the news.
On her phone.
So.
Where does the truth lie,
When all our pictures
Tell a different story?
Ed: Raphael’s Mond Crucifixion in the National Gallery depicts a peaceful Christ whereas Grunewald’s Isenheim Alterpiece in Colmar shows a Christ pitted with plague type sores.
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