Adoration of Madonna 1910

Editor: This is Jacek Malczewski's "Adoration of Madonna," painted in 1910. It’s an oil painting, and it strikes me as a really odd mix of the sacred and the profane, almost unsettling. There's a lot going on. What do you make of it? Curator: Unsettling is the perfect word! Malczewski, he wasn't afraid to stir the pot. See how he’s placed the Madonna, that symbol of pure reverence, on top of this…well, it’s a bit of a pagan altar, isn't it? There's an offering there of the horns of the bull that seem to be supporting the Madonna? What do you notice about the figures surrounding the base? Editor: There are satyrs… and some almost grotesque creatures. A man, looking away, in shadow almost kneeling, wearing what looks like a travelers robe. What are these creatures doing in the same space as a Madonna and child? Curator: Exactly! This is Malczewski diving deep into the Polish soul, this is! Remember, Poland at the time was partitioned, fighting for its identity. It's as though Malczewski's is wrestling with what is a real history and the longing for independence against tradition. He is posing a question, can a pure vision, that ideal of the Madonna, triumph over the pagan past? The satyrs, the grotesqueries - those are those parts of our selves we're tempted to keep secret, those are our shadowed identities. Is the future built upon the past? Does it replace the past? This piece isn’t just about the Madonna; it’s about us. Editor: Wow, I never would have pieced all that together from just looking at it! Curator: Art is the conversation, isn't it?