Saint Theresa c. 18th century

Curator: Here we have Johann Evangelist Holzer's "Saint Theresa," a delicate drawing housed at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Wow, there's a vulnerability here. She's so exposed, yet completely consumed by... something. It's breathtaking. Curator: Holzer captures that intense inner life so well. The upward gaze, the gestures—they point to an ecstatic union. Editor: That cross she holds so lightly... Is she offering it or receiving it? Maybe both, a cyclical thing? Curator: It reflects Theresa's own writing on spiritual marriage and the merging of the self with the divine. Editor: There's a tension between her body and the spirit, and I can’t help but see a conversation about longing. Curator: Holzer, with his swift hand, really understood how to use symbols to depict these states. Editor: To see the mystic within, the human within—it's really beautiful work by Holzer. Curator: Indeed, and a powerful evocation of Saint Theresa's enduring appeal.