Mädchen mit geschlossenen Augen (Girl with Downcast Eyes) [p. 13] 

Here is your audio guide script: Max Beckmann’s sketch, “Girl with Downcast Eyes,” captures a figure in quiet contemplation through simple pencil lines. The downcast gaze is a motif laden with meaning. Consider the "Ecce Homo" scenes throughout art history, where Christ's lowered eyes symbolize humility, suffering, and introspection before his torment. Similarly, the motif appears in portraits of the Virgin Mary, signifying sorrow and piety. Beckmann’s girl is connected to this visual lineage; her posture evokes a sense of vulnerability and inner turmoil. This gesture is not static; it evolves. The downcast eyes, a symbol of grief in Renaissance Madonnas, become, in Beckmann’s hand, a modern expression of psychological weight. The collective memory embedded in such gestures engages us. Viewers subconsciously recognize the emotional weight of the downcast gaze, a testament to its enduring power in art and culture. This is the cyclical journey of symbols, their reinvention, and their timeless resonance.