Madonna and Child 1914

Timothy Cole made this image of Madonna and Child with engraving, probably on wood or metal. It's so finely wrought, the tonal range is so subtle, you can almost feel him coaxing the image into being. I imagine Cole, bent over his block, tiny tools in hand, slowly building up these figures. The Madonna, so tenderly holding the Christ child, feels like a soft sculpture, carefully modeled with light and shadow. Look at the way her face droops as she is consumed by sadness. The angels are there, too, in quiet supplication. The whole scene is a study in devotion and sorrow, the artist's gentle hand guiding us through this quiet, mournful moment. It’s like he is whispering a secret, a shared understanding of love, loss, and sacrifice. What does it mean to render an image, to translate dimensions, to feel and interpret through lines? What did Cole learn from the old masters and how did that inform his own work? These are the questions artists continue to ask and answer in their work across time.