Jesus among the Doctors 

Curator: This is "Jesus among the Doctors," a striking charcoal and pencil drawing on paper, attributed to Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. It appears to be a study, possibly for a larger work depicting this scene from the Gospel of Luke. Editor: The dramatic contrast between the golden background and the gray figures gives the scene a strange tension. Almost as if the divine is bearing down on them. It is a striking but somewhat unsettling composition. Curator: Indeed, that golden background could signify divine illumination or revelation. Consider the narrative being depicted here: a young Jesus, displaying wisdom beyond his years, engaging with learned religious scholars in the temple. Editor: The composition guides our eye directly to Jesus who appears mature, wise, like an experienced orator or philosopher. It is quite imposing, like those religious authorities being scrutinized are being exposed in some way. What's going on with the figure gesturing on the rock? It gives him the posture of a conductor in an opera! Curator: The figure with the raised hand perhaps symbolizes a Pharisee trying to discredit Jesus. But that pose suggests the weight of doctrine, perhaps struggling against the emergence of something new and transformative. Think how unsettling Jesus's teachings and perspective was! It overturned a whole symbolic order. Editor: It’s interesting how Tiepolo captures that very shift through composition and character design. Even down to that peculiar bell. What to make of it? Curator: In a scene ripe with dialogue, the bell might be a reference to laws, judgment or declarations. Maybe an ancient equivalent to a judge banging his gravel. This particular image may indicate the twilight of a past order and the heralding of a new dawn. Editor: Well, I'd say the drawing overall is effective at projecting a profound sense of anticipation and change, through these powerful iconic symbols. I can see why people are so drawn to it! Curator: Me too. Examining how the symbols function in this scene shows me just how much of an artist's skill consists of building images to affect us so viscerally.