| HANDS Throughout time there have been works of art, which will always remain a mystery both in what they express and in their interpretation. One of these works is the “Mona Lisa” (“La Gioconda”) from Leonardo da Vinci in the Louvre. Her eyes, her facial expression constantly fascinate people anew. The woman depicted, the wife of the Florentine citizen Giocondo, appears to be resting in front of a cryptic landscape which, when the work is viewed at an ever greater distance, gives the impression of becoming increasingly bizarre, assuming eruptive traits. This contrast between the peacefulness of the figure and the surrealistic background is not characterised by abruptness, thanks to the softness of the light dissolving the harshness of contours. Twilight falls upon the scenery, spreading a touch of disintegration to that which is to be seen.
Because of the fascination in her facial expression, there is a tendency to overlook her hands, which are clasped loosely together. These are soft - in the same way as the entire painting radiates softness. Here too, in combination with the arm resting on the back of a chair, there is the impression that the person depicted is letting herself be captured by the tranquillity of the receding day. Mona Lisa personifies tranquillity and makes the impression of having found inner peace. The viewer is confronted with this – in contrast to his or her own life, to his or her own conflict with chasing some purported fulfilment in life. It is this lack of conflict that makes this painting appear so mysterious. This also applies to the hands. They are neither gripping anything nor holding anything. Whereas we are used to seeing hands marked by lines engraved into the skin - bearing witness to life’s experiences - Mona Lisa’s hands are unmarked by work, injury or any other experience. They simply rest upon one another weightlessly, reflecting the light which falls upon them. Janos Schaab adapts Leonardo da Vinci’s painting to his own pictorial language. He reduces his view to her hands, allowing them to leave a monochrome space only to return to this without delay. They appear and at the same time disappear – without telling from where they came or to where they are going. Thus Schaab translates the mysteriousness of da Vinci’s work into his own painting. Supposedly opposing forces – the hands taking shape while at the same time fading away – join together into an organic cooperation and into a state of mutual dependency. In this way we look beyond the hands: they symbolize human existence, the interaction of life and death. By limiting himself to the hands, Janos Schaab makes it clear that what is happening in the entire painting as a whole is reflected at the same time in the details. Dr. Jürgen Lenssen / Würzburg back ... |
