Glass Panel of Elijah and the Widow's Son 1500 - 1535

This glass panel of Elijah and the Widow's Son was crafted by Jan van Diependale sometime between 1509 and 1534. It powerfully depicts a scene from the Old Testament. Note the central figure of Elijah, who, through divine intervention, resurrects the widow's son. The gesture of raising someone from the dead is an ancient motif. We see echoes of it in Egyptian sarcophagi, where the deceased are symbolically raised to eternal life by Osiris. In early Christian art, Lazarus is brought back from the dead. The motif then evolves into the raising of the son of the widow of Nain, and continues to resurface in countless instances, always carrying that primal yearning for triumph over death. These gestures aren't merely illustrations of biblical events; they are manifestations of our collective subconscious struggle against mortality. Death, like a void, induces intense anxiety, a feeling of helplessness which these images, across time, attempt to quell. The Widow's desperate pleas speak to our deepest fears and desires.