καιρός remembered

Redemption of man

or the cross in the mountains

If God is in the details (“Der liebe Gott steckt im Detail”, Aby Warburg), then He is more present in the fly on the cross than in the man nailed to it.

In any case, I have always admired the fly resting for a moment on the side of this weathered wooden cross that I once saw whilst hiking in the Swiss Alps.

The Cross in the Mountains is, in fact, the title of a highly original altarpiece by Caspar David Friedrich (the Tetschen Altarpiece, 1808). I call it ‘original’ because it depicts a landscape with a cross shown at an angle, viewed slightly from behind, rather than in a frontal view. As a result, the landscape comes to the fore more than the cross, which is indeed a highly original choice for an altarpiece. It seems to invite the worship of nature rather than the worship of Christ, or at most the worship of God as part of nature. In his painting, however, Friedrich certainly intended to express the redemption of humankind: the gift of eternal life, symbolised by the evergreen trees, through the death (and resurrection) of Christ.

Small chapels and wayside crosses are a common sight in many parts of Europe, even high up in the mountains. Old and forgotten, they form a beautiful part of the landscape and invite walkers or passers-by to pause for a moment’s rest. And for believers, they serve as a reminder of the comfort that all was not lost after the Fall of Man.

Photo of the week: Arête de Berroi, near Barme, with “Les Dents du Midi” in the background, Switzerland, 2000