Saint Mary of Egypt 

Editor: Here we have "Saint Mary of Egypt" by Quentin Matsys, an oil painting currently housed in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. There's a rather haunting quality to this piece. I’m really struck by how her gaze seems fixed on something beyond the canvas. What do you see in this work? Curator: Haunting is the perfect word. She's utterly consumed, isn’t she? I see a moment of profound transformation, or maybe even transcendence. The story, briefly, is of a prostitute who, after a miraculous event, repented and lived as a hermit in the desert. Matsys hasn’t shied away from depicting the rawness of that… or maybe the awkward beauty. The near-nudity is there, the wild landscape presses in on her, her gaze upwards searching the light through the canopy above. It feels deeply honest. Do you feel the honesty I’m trying to find words for? Editor: Absolutely. There’s no idealization here, which makes it more powerful. It feels raw and real. Is that loaf of bread next to her her only possession? Curator: Exactly, it makes me think of a visual shedding of everything external… wealth, status, clothes. Her internal, reflective life is the sole focus. I imagine it mirroring something inside all of us struggling with the tensions of self-discovery, and stripping bare everything but raw consciousness to get there. The setting helps me breathe deeper. And that is what she shares with me when I encounter this image. What do you make of the light? Editor: That makes sense, what you say of light is definitely a thread, an element of grace perhaps, guiding her upward look. And for me too, in seeing how I relate to the work. Thank you! Curator: It's been a lovely discovery, wouldn't you agree? Art truly sparks insight when viewed together!