Nicht daß ein Engel eintrat (das erkenn),
erschreckte sie. Sowenig andre, wenn
ein Sonnenstrahl oder der Mond bei Nacht
in ihrem Zimmer sich zu schaffen macht,
auffahren --, pflegte sie an der Gestalt,
in der ein Engel ging, sich zu entrüsten;
sie ahnte kaum, daß dieser Aufenthalt
mühsam für Engel ist. (O wenn wir wüßten,
wie rein sie war. Hat eine Hirschkuh nicht,
die, liegend, einmal sie im Wald eräugte,
sich so in sie versehn, daß sich in ihr,
ganz ohne Paarigen, das Einhorn zeugte,
das Tier aus Licht, das reine Tier -).
Nicht, daß er eintrat, aber daß er dicht,
der Engel, eines Jünglings Angesicht
so zu ihr neigte; daß sein Blick und der,
mit dem sie aufsah, so zusammenschlugen
als wäre draußen plötzlich alles leer
und, was Millionen schauten, trieben, trugen
hineingedrängt in sie: nur sie und er;
Schaun und Geschautes, Aug und Augenweide
sonst nirgends als an dieser Stelle -: sieh,
dieses erschreckt. Und sie erschraken beide.
Dann sang der Engel seine Melodie.
Today is the feast of the Annunciation, celebrated by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. It is a subject of much painting in the West and also of poetry, though Goethe never composed a poem about this mysterious event. Thus, I turn to Rainer Maria Rilke, who in 1912 wrote a cycle of poems on the life of Mary, including the above one on the Annunciation.
Mostly this feast day is an occasion to post some of my favorite pictures on this theme, in particular by modern artists. The above painting by the American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner captures the numinous nature of the event and Mary's submission to an unwished-for destiny. It is a nice contrast to Orazio Gentileschi's gorgeous Baroque portrait.
Goethe was appreciative of many Renaissance artists, whose works he saw during his stay in Italy, but the "otherworldly" dimension of Christian art did not appeal to him, and he hated paintings showing gruesome scenes of martyrdom. Whenever he writes about Christian art, he distances himself from the subject of the work. More on that when I write about his visit to Heidelberg and the Boisserie brothers' collection of Netherlandic art.
3 comments:
Some years ago, I went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art while an exhibition of realistic art was there. I saw a painting of "The Annunciation" that was absolutely stunning. Mary is shown backed up against a corner of her little room, her broken pot at her feet where she dropped it. The angel is not depicted but is represented by bright light at the right edge of the painting. Unfortunately, I never found out who the artist was but that painting has remained in my memory all these years. I was just curious if anyone else has seen it or knows anything more about it. Thanks.
The painting you describe sounds very much like the Henry Ossawa Tanner painting that is included among the Annunciation photos in my post, except that the light is on the left.
What a wonderful blog, and blog post! I am an Episcopal priest in Texas and will be preaching this Sunday from Luke 1:26-38. My intention is to show pictures of various "Annunciations" & discuss them.
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