Juan Sanchez Cotan the Spaniard
Puts a membrillo and a repollo
To be preserved in the larder window.
They hang from hidden hooks in the night sky,
Five objects in celestial order,
Planets geometrically processing
Through the impenetrable infinite.
They are still there - preserved in a painting.
Myopically sublime and numinous,
He sees his God in the quotidian.
Across the Mediterranean sea
Is a parallel, disconnected life.
The great Galileo Galilei.
With telescope and hyperopia
He too sees the planets in procession
In a heliotropic universe.
Still there - a new testament to reason.
In parallel - a monk; a heretic:
Juan enters the contemplative life
To serve his purblind Church and his God.
Galileo enters the papal court
To be condemned by the Inquisition.
To guarded house arrest for his end years.
I would like to think he went home alone
And, contemplating Juan Sanchez Cotan,
And the ways of Man and the Universe,
He ate cetriolo with melone
-
Author:
Robert Tilleard (
Offline) - Published: April 19th, 2022 05:34
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 9
Offline)
Comments2
personally, I'm a fan of Chardin
but I have an appreciation for
all still life works, in general
I admire, their ability
to add/capture
the ignored wonder, in our everyday..
and yes, the deeper we go into context
and an artist's, earthly reasons
for their chosen depictions
it makes it all murky and so far removed
from the magic, we wish it was..
so I simply choose to ignore
such trivialities, in my admiration
or our artistic geniuses..
(a great write, with wonderfully complex
threading of poetic rhyme and tempo ..
thanks for sharing)
Couldn't agree more about Chardin. Someone once described him as 'the painter of silence'.
oh wow, so apt
thank you, I'll remember that
I've learnt new words from your interesting poem. Thank you for sharing.
To be able to comment and rate this poem, you must be registered. Register here or if you are already registered, login here.