Onlookers.PARADOXICALLY, THE WAY TO PEACE is not to seek it, but to seek selflessness. Self-seeking of any kind narrows our potential and destroys the balance on which peace depends. (We must want totality and accept our helplessness to attain it.) Signorelli is not attempting to show us peace in this detail. He is attempting to be truthful, which does not mean naturalistic accuracy but truth to his own vision. In this single-minded pursuit, which leaves no room for the ego, Signorelli has, as an artistic by-product by·prod·uct or by-prod·uct n. 1. Something produced in the making of something else. 2. A secondary result; a side effect. by-product Noun 1. , given us a view of inner peace. These two attendants are not actively involved, but are engrossed en·gross tr.v. en·grossed, en·gross·ing, en·gross·es 1. To occupy exclusively; absorb: A great novel engrosses the reader. See Synonyms at monopolize. 2. in their contemplative role. Their identity is unimportant: They are onlookers, and they watch with loving concentration. Their peace comes from their unself-conscious response to the actual. By SISTER WENDY BECKETT of Norfolk, England, well-known for her BBC BBC in full British Broadcasting Corp. Publicly financed broadcasting system in Britain. A private company at its founding in 1922, it was replaced by a public corporation under royal charter in 1927. and PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, television art series and her popular art books. Reprinted with permission from: Sister Wendy's Book of Meditations (DK Publishing, 1998; 888-342-5357). Painting: Detail from The Circumcision circumcision (sûr'kəmsĭzh`ən), operation to remove the foreskin covering the glans of the penis. It dates back to prehistoric times and was widespread throughout the Middle East as a religious rite before it was introduced among the , c. 1491, Luca Signorelli, National Gallery, London. |
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