The Ascension of Christ before 1585

Curator: Anton Wierix II created this print, titled "The Ascension of Christ," and it's part of the Harvard Art Museums collection. Editor: It's... strangely comforting. The colors are muted, soft somehow, despite the drama of the scene. And Christ rising on a fluffy cloud. Curator: Well, the ascension is a key motif in Christian art. You see the earthly and divine realms colliding here. The upward movement, the apostles gazing up... It's about hope and transition. Editor: Right, those upturned faces are like flowers turning to the sun. I wonder if Wierix felt a little pang of sadness depicting it, Christ leaving. Curator: Perhaps. But the use of symbols, the mandorla of light around Christ, suggests triumph, not just departure. It's not about loss but the promise of something beyond. Editor: I guess so. It's less a farewell and more of a...see you later, with a heavenly upgrade. Curator: Exactly. That's the visual language of faith speaking to us, even now. Editor: Makes you think about the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of big changes. Or big goodbyes.