OFLUXO

The city of Voronezh was a place of exile for a Russian-Jewish Acmeist poet Osip Mandelstam. On Jan. 2, 1937 he wrote Smile, angry lamb—a semi-accurate description of the scene in Rafael’s Sacra Famiglia con l’angello. While involuntarily based in the remote province, O.M. didn’t have physical access to the originals of Rafael’s work, nor to any reproductions. The poem’s painting differs from the source in many ways. Soft background and fuzzy vegetation of the original is replaced by the bare and unwelcoming rocky landscape. The gentle gradient of the sky turns into a dramatic clash of sharp-edged clouds. The Lamb of God looks angry unlike Rafael’s rather cheerful rendering.

Cristo acompáñame. Cristo ante mí. Cristo detrás de mí. Cristo en mí. Cristo debajo de mí. Cristo sobre mí. Cristo a mi derecha. Cristo a mi izquierda. Cristo en el corazón.

Sedientos. Tenemos sed.