'Waiting' with Hendrick Corneliz. van Vliet (1611-75)

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Now ... imagine saying Christ's words for yourself: “I am the Resurrection and the life ... he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” At this moment, in this “image,” Christ disappears from view. For now, here, in this place within this occasion of your “Beholding,” “ I am the Resurrection and the life.” Whether you respond as a Dutch, 17 th -century patron of the artist, familiar with the New Church of Delft or as a human being, the affective result is the same.

Try this: as you “Behold” with this painting, breathe in (as deeply as you can). Hold this breath. Breath out fully. Hold it. Breathe in again and hold it. Breathe out again and hold it. Hold it ... Now, breathe in as fully as you can, saying in this light, within the thrall of this painting, “I am the Resurrection and the life .…”

If you were to find yourself at the “center of pictorial gravity” of this painting where all compositional tensions are focused ... if you were there at the still-point of “Beholding”... you might now breathe out once more as completely as possible ... Breathe out all dualities, all separations, all distinctions, all illusory realities that comprise conscious existence ... Hold this condition; attend to the contradictions of mortal being ... Be in your solitude and with this painting ... then breathe in the light that penetrates the illusory “space” of this image and allow it to penetrate you ... even as the reflected light of the physical painting illuminates the surrounding darkness ...

From this contemplative vantage point, this painting is immeasurably more than a descriptively rich representation of the celebrated New Church at Delft and the noble tomb of William of Nassau. It is also more than an objective, visualized memento mori , or even a poignant pictorial meditation on Death, Wealth, Civic Virtue and all the other abstractions it shares. For, at its core, the “art” of this work of art, which, after all, is nothing other than an “oily rag,” reverberates with our deepest human experience of conscious separation and longing … of being and non-being. And it is present to each one of us if we are prepared and willing to “Wait” ... and to “Behold” ... rather than merely look, observe and move on. “Waiting” with Hendrick van Vliet might allow this painting to unfold itself to you ... and, perhaps, you just a bit to yourself.

Were this to happen, your thoughts and those of Simone Weil might resonate together:

“All the natural movements of the soul are controlled by laws analogous to those of physical gravity. Grace is the only exception ... Grace fills empty spaces but it can only enter where there is a void to receive it, and it is grace itself which make this void."

Close your eyes with a new image of “interiority” within you.

Interior of the New Church at Delft in Gallery

Open your eyes ... return when ready to the habitual world, changed if you will by the “art” of “Beholding.” Now, listen to Simone Weil once more:

“The human being only escapes from the laws of this world in lightning flashes. Instants when everything stands still, instants of contemplation, of pure intuition.”

Experiment over. The dimmed lights are returned to their full brightness.

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