Psalms 58-60 - Universal Languages
(Yes, too long for email again - trust me - you want to click through on the header for the videos at the end)
Yup - I’m lumping three Psalms together because they all speak to some drives that are universal in humans - vengeance, fear, and winning. Psalm 58 is a prayer for vengeance against enemies with lines such as “O God, break the teeth in their mouth”, 59 is a song about being afraid of those coming after the writer, and 60 is a prayer calling for God to bring victory after a national defeat. All of these are universal in humans from my expeirence, both my own and what I have seen in others. But there are some other universals and as we come to our final night of what has been an incredible journey through these two wonderful countries, I want to center on three different universals - art, beauty, and music - all of which we experienced here in Madrid. Be sure to get to the videos at the end...trust me.
Art
We arrived in Madrid on Sunday morning and spent our afternoon on all-too-brief trips to the Reina Sofia and the Prado. We primarily went to the Reina Sofia to see Picasso’s masterpiece, Guernica, which is not necessarily about beauty but a message about the horrors of war.
But the piece that spoke deeply to me as we exited that part of the museum was this one - Butterflies Lost in the Mountains by Óscar Domínguez.
I loved the way that the flame is rising from one of the women toward the butterflies like her heart is set afire by these butterflies that are each so different and look like they are on a flag blowing in the wind. There is also the fact that the woman on the left looks like she’s flying toward the butterflies. It is how I feel when i am drawn into beauty - lifted up, afire, connected.
When we shifted to the Prado, there were several pieces that we intended to see but the one I most wanted to see was The Annunication by Fra Angelico. We were not allowed to photograph in the museum so here is the museum’s image of it.
Here were the random notes that I took on my phone as I was able to take in this stunning piece.
Looking at the detail of the annunciation. The depth and brilliance of the color, the glittering of the gold paint and detail. It is a powerful celebration of her story. Yet she does not look powerful, saintly or anything like that. She looks scared and worried and confused. The angel has the same placement of arms but the angel looks comforting while Mary looks worried. Floor looks like water and light. But Mary’s room is common and normal.
But they also had the panel piece that was originally below the larger painting that depicted five scenes of Mary’s life - three of which are in the Bible (the visit to Elizabeth, the birth of Jesus, and the dedication of Jesus - and two that are not - the marriage of Mary and Joseph and then Mary’s death. I was especially taken with the depiction of the death of Mary with her being surrounded by the others who had died before her (including Jesus) and the row of angels lining the way for her.
Most of all with these though...I have never seen such vibrancy or brilliance in a centuries-old painting before. The texture and brilliance of the gold and the depth of the blue especially was stunning in person. These pieces are wonders to behold in person.1
The universal language of art.
Beauty
After the museum, we wandered through the botanical garden next to the Prado. Only a few parts were in bloom as it is still early Spring but those parts that were...wow. Not much needs to be said on these.
The universal language of beauty.
Music
On our final night, I had gone out a bit before Amy to just wander the Plaza del Sol and soak up the energy of the city on a beautiful evening. We had some time before we were to meet a friend for dinner at the Mercado de San Miguel (which has the MOST AMAZING dessert I’ve had in a long time at one of the stands - see end of post). As I walked out to the plaza, I heard music some distance away. I followed it to the other side of the plaza and saw two men - one with a stand-up bass and the other with a violin doing a beautiful rendition of A Thousand Years. I simply sat back against one of the many large rocks and soaked in the music and the evening and texted Amy to come and join me, which she did a few minutes later. Here’s part of that first piece they were playing - take it in while imagining a perfect 65 degree temperature with the setting sun warmly shining on your back.
Then as Amy arrived a few minutes later, they began to play this.
As we stood there, I was thinking about how we were hearing all kinds of different languages - us speaking English, many speaking Spanish, and a few other languages as well. We heard a few honks of cars trying to move through and the language of children laughing and playing. All these different languages (even the near-universal language of football on the screens in the background). But in the middle of all of it was this music - music with no words and something that can be received, understood, and enjoyed. It was magical.
The universal language of music
So yes, the Psalms do speak of these three other universals but there are so many more that are so much greater, deeper, and more transformative.
We are leaving early tomorrow morning so this is one of our final glimpses of Madrid as we walked to the Mercado.
And then the Mercado itself, the dessert I spoke of, and Mini-Scout ready to be home…
Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Ed
I do highly recommend viewing the pieces via the Prado’s online viewer.
In the butterfly painting, I noticed an umbilical cord between the flame woman and the butterfly "exhibit". Also, the second violin piece is by Bach, part of a series of short pieces that I can't remember the name of right now. This piece is used a lot by ballet instructors for students to move through a dance sequence for practice. I adore everything you're sharing with us and so happy you are enjoying yourselves.
Safe travels! Thank you for sharing all!