A piece of the painting “Mourning” by Sandro Boticelli.

This piece of the painting impresses us with tenderness. The faces are touching each other very closely. The beautiful eyelids are hiding peace and calmness. The woman`s face has no pain in it, only peacefulness. She is young, just like the face of Jesus who is peacefully asleep. You can feel a relief. These two faces of a young mother and her beloved yet dead son constitute the unity.

They are joined together with each other but you cannot see the heaviness of this closeness but rather an unspeakable peace and calmness of both of them. Maria`s eyelids are concealing her whole body. Jesus`s lips are uttering silence. And the cheeks are asleep. The mild flashes of light are touching the lower lip, chin, eyelids. These two faces are never to be parted.

It is not proper even to look on at such love, but you must not omit it either, you are not allowed not to see it. Is it possible for anyone to participate in such a tender touch of these two faces? Are we up to it at all? Who is? Who will understand?

© MMVIII Andrzej Kaczmarczyk,