Mystical Contemplation

The Man and Woman of Sorrows, 17” x 23.5”,

Egg tempera and 22 carat gold on ¾” solid wood panel.

By the hand of MF Dondelinger.

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This is one of the most tender images in traditional iconography. Christ, dead, is being held by Mary as he is in a sarcophagus. While most orthodox icons focus on the divinity in the saints and holy family, this icon seems to also capture, in the most intimate manner, the humanness of the mother and son.

“The Man of Sorrows in its many artistic forms is the most precise visual expression of the piety of the later Middle Ages, which took its character from mystical contemplation rather than from theological speculation".1

1. G Schiller, Iconography of Christian Art, Vol. II,1972 (English trans from German), Lund Humphries, London, pp.197-229, quote from p.198