Unidentified Scene: Figures Watching a Fallen Giant and Another Figure Levitating 1591 - 1652

Jusepe de Ribera created this drawing, "Unidentified Scene: Figures Watching a Fallen Giant and Another Figure Levitating," with pen and brown ink. Notice how the composition is structured around a stark contrast between the weighty figure of the fallen giant at the bottom and the ethereal levitating figure above. Ribera uses line to create a sense of depth and movement. The sinuous, almost frantic lines suggest the instability of the scene, mirroring the giant's fall and the figure's ascent. There's an interesting juxtaposition of power and powerlessness, visible in the gestures and body language depicted. The witnesses on the right, with raised arms, seem to oscillate between awe and terror. This dynamic interplay challenges fixed ideas about physical laws, as a body defies gravity, suggesting a challenge to traditional systems of order and meaning. The drawing prompts us to consider the possibilities and impossibilities within our own understanding of the world.