Medieval Madonna
The Medieval Room at the Princeton Museum has a wooden fragment of a Madonna and Child taken from a Gothic church somewhere in Germany. She seems to me to be out of a Grimm's fairy tale. Her crown is Glinda's, her hair, Rapunzel's. And as if that weren't enough, the baby! Never have I seen such a fabulous Christ child depicted. His face is a Maurice Sendak child, and the way he's moving and reaching out to bless the world, with a confidence and serenity combined to make you believe he knows everything you don't....even though he's just a babe. Sitting apart in this empty space, with the wall of light behind, I never forgot this image.