Hands Resting on the Knee

Viewing notes

A viewer's written impression — not a buyer review or first-hand record

This copper-toned seated figure is startlingly lean. The old monk's chest is bared, every rib standing out, even the abdomen's grooves carved with meticulous care. He sits on the rock with one leg folded and one knee raised, both hands laid one over the other on the raised knee before him, one bare foot planted on the cloth that spills down. The long robe wraps only around his arms and along one leg; the rest of the body is given almost entirely to the viewer. His face is gaunt, his gaze straight ahead, his lips slightly parted, as if holding a breath in deep stillness. This is not the beauty of roundness and plenty, but the bone-structure beauty of an ascetic, all its weight in sinew and frame. It belongs in a quiet room or a study, and it stands up to long looking — and to close looking.