Holding the Tablet on the Rock

Viewing notes

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

This copper-toned figure is seated (the catalogue name calls it standing, but the image shows him sitting). The man wears a hood, and beneath its brim is a face framed by a curly full beard, brows slightly knitted, eyes turned upward, the expression stern. He sits on the rock with one knee raised, one hand gripping a long, flat, bar-shaped object that leans diagonally against his shoulder, like a traveller about to rise and take the road again. Heavy robes wrap down in layers from his shoulders, their folds piling deep between his knees and the rock face, one cloth shoe emerging from beneath the hem. The copper tone is weighty throughout, without ornament; the presence is established by face and posture alone. Placed at an entryway, in a study, or beside a courtyard rock arrangement, it brings with it the dust of a journey and a story worth pondering.