Somewhere in my cotton-stuffed head I know it; somewhere I know where I came up with the phrase, “The Orb of Being,” but I can’t remember it, even though it tickles like a feather. It is the domain name for The Quiet Voice, but it began as the title to my last novel, which is never likely to see publication. It was meant as a capstone for a diverse set of writings that started with Basket of Reeds, my first novel and one that might be published, moving through Remission (which I also intend to publish), through Miracle, which is a ‘possible,’ and ending with The Orb of Being, which I cannot clearly remember, but I think of as something of a mess. In the final act, the grand finale to all the rest of the novels, the hero, who we have traced since the first novel, ascends more or less like Elijah into heaven, but without a chariot. Maybe I’ll take a look at the novel again, but in any case, I still don’t know how the Orb name came up.
It could be the coolness of it – the Orb is an archaic term for a solid globe, and “Being,” well, who cannot nod wisely at this hint of some sort of ontological proof, whether we really understand it or not? I think, however, that it came from some reading I was doing at the time, but what that might be I don’t know. Because I am now a man of the modern world, I (of course) looked it up on the internet to find the answer. There I got no hint or clue at all, but I did find something else that is way cooler than a phrase: a painting. A painting from the Italian Renaissance, no less, and a painting from the Italian Renaissance from no less than Leonardo Da Vinci - yeah, that’s right, the guy who painted The Last Supper with Jesus and the apostles, and thrilled the world with his genius.
The painting is called Salvator Mundi, “Savior of the World,” which depicts Christ in Renaissance dress making the sign of peace with his right hand while holding a crystal orb with his left. It is so cool that I bought a replica on cotton for $42 on Amazon, and it arrived last Saturday, just in the nick of time, as I will soon relate. It hangs now before my desk, and every time I want to curse or think bad thoughts, I can feel Him looking down on me with those too-alive Da Vinci eyes, the same that made Mona Lisa so famous. I might be sorry I hung him there, but then again, how could I? How could I when I see the Orb in his hand? The Orb I believe he shared with me for this website, which itself has taken me on such a journey - a journey towards exactly what the Orb represents.
Salvator Mundi; for centuries it was known to exist, but so many copies were made of it that no one knew which, if any, was the original. It wasn’t until the year 2,000 something when, in the process of being restored, the expert doing the work brought it to an official art committee with solid evidence that this was the original “Last Da Vinci” as it had long been called. The committee agreed, and with that, the price shot up through the “orb” of the sky. It sold just a year or so ago to some Saudi Prince – obviously not a Christian –for 450 million dollars, the highest price ever paid for a painting at a public auction. Why one would pay such a price when Christ would no doubt have blanched at this ostentatious waste is almost beyond me, except that, in the rare art world, it is known that the price of the work of a master will probably increase. And so it was more of a monetary investment that also, I suppose, lavished some snobbish credentials on the prince.
Except that maybe it won’t give the prince any of the above. It is accepted by the experts in general that elements of the painting – perhaps large elements - were done by Leonardo’s students under his tutelage in his workshop, which was common. Unfortunately for the prince, it might be that they and others who came after accomplished the entire piece. Without at least some work of the master on the painting, it could never be accepted as a true Leonardo.
They, those experts who were not on the committee, have reasons to believe that this is so. For one, the painting has been so retouched over the years that its provenance is difficult to prove with such things that only art experts know. There are also discrepancies in style: the thumb of the right hand, for instance, seems to some not quite up to Leonardo’s standards. And then there is the Orb. If the reader is interested, look it up yourself and take a look at the Orb. Were it technically correct, a glass orb would bend the sight of the palm that is holding it, as well as the cloth that is behind it. It does not. Leonardo would never let such details go, even if done by a student. Except, says another expert, Leonardo was an ardent student himself of rock crystals, such as quartz, which he studied with the very woman who might have been the model for “Mona Lisa.” Rock crystal does not bend that which is behind it, but rather double-refracts it (that is, shows two straight refractions) – which is exactly what this orb does to the palm that is holding it. So it might be that the Orb is key to the authenticity and price of the painting. But what does the Orb mean?
In the Ptolemaic universe, which I vaguely recall is geocentric, the “heavens” are represented by a crystal orb that encircles the Earth. And so this is, with Christ holding our heaven in his hand, ready to give it to all who share his peace. The Orb of Being, then, is our perfected self, aligned with the heaven(s). I do not think I thought of that when I named my messy last novel, although it is now clear that it was exceedingly appropriate, given that the story’s hero was elevated to heaven in the end. So it is that the Orb – the will of heaven, or God, or his Holy Spirit - always gives in surprising ways, ways that we might not become aware of for months or even decades later.
Or sometimes, far, far less time. “Salvator Mundi” arrived last Saturday afternoon, a package as desired as any Christmas present. It found a place for itself on the wall in front of my desk, where I saw it in the light of my desk lamp and gasped. Even the reproduction is that good, although as a novice in art, I cannot say exactly why. I could not sit and relish it for long, however, as the rain from earlier in the day was starting up again. With no outdoor work possible, I seemed the right time to head out for mass which was soon to start. I would be leaving the ‘Salvator’ on his own. Or so I thought.
But no. Instead, he followed me right into church. After the usual preamble and the Gospel, the priest – who I have found has an odd telepathic connection with me and some others – gave his homily. I was almost but not quite shocked when he began by mentioning Leonardo Da Vinci and his noble work, and how his students helped him create his masterpieces by following his example. This, said the Father, is how Jesus worked with his disciples – he was the master who taught the lessons that they later carried to the world. We too, he said, are called to spread his lessons as were the original disciples. He did not have to add that in this way, we would achieve what was in the ‘Salvator’s” left hand – the Orb of crystal that is heaven. And this Orb was just as valuable whether achieved through the master or the student, or by someone who had become a student himself. The blessing of the master was all that was necessary for the work to lift one to heights even beyond the price of ‘The Last Leonardo.’
Don’t laugh. There is a world greater than you might think outside our little patch of goecentricity, where anything can and just might happen. A concept might even follow you, maybe for years, from a mediocre work to a masterpiece to the real thing that does not reflect but really was, is, and forever will be.
Somewhere in my cotton-stuffed head I know it; somewhere I know where I came up with the phrase, “The Orb of Being,” but I can’t remember it, even though it tickles like a feather. It is the domain name for The Quiet Voice, but it began as the title to my last novel, which is never likely to see publication. It was meant as a capstone for a diverse set of writings that started with Basket of Reeds, my first novel and one that might be published, moving through Remission (which I also intend to publish), through Miracle, which is a ‘possible,’ and ending with The Orb of Being, which I cannot clearly remember, but I think of as something of a mess. In the final act, the grand finale to all the rest of the novels, the hero, who we have traced since the first novel, ascends more or less like Elijah into heaven, but without a chariot. Maybe I’ll take a look at the novel again, but in any case, I still don’t know how the Orb name came up.
It could be the coolness of it – the Orb is an archaic term for a solid globe, and “Being,” well, who cannot nod wisely at this hint of some sort of ontological proof, whether we really understand it or not? I think, however, that it came from some reading I was doing at the time, but what that might be I don’t know. Because I am now a man of the modern world, I (of course) looked it up on the internet to find the answer. There I got no hint or clue at all, but I did find something else that is way cooler than a phrase: a painting. A painting from the Italian Renaissance, no less, and a painting from the Italian Renaissance from no less than Leonardo Da Vinci - yeah, that’s right, the guy who painted The Last Supper with Jesus and the apostles, and thrilled the world with his genius.
The painting is called Salvator Mundi, “Savior of the World,” which depicts Christ in Renaissance dress making the sign of peace with his right hand while holding a crystal orb with his left. It is so cool that I bought a replica on cotton for $42 on Amazon, and it arrived last Saturday, just in the nick of time, as I will soon relate. It hangs now before my desk, and every time I want to curse or think bad thoughts, I can feel Him looking down on me with those too-alive Da Vinci eyes, the same that made Mona Lisa so famous. I might be sorry I hung him there, but then again, how could I? How could I when I see the Orb in his hand? The Orb I believe he shared with me for this website, which itself has taken me on such a journey - a journey towards exactly what the Orb represents.
Salvator Mundi; for centuries it was known to exist, but so many copies were made of it that no one knew which, if any, was the original. It wasn’t until the year 2,000 something when, in the process of being restored, the expert doing the work brought it to an official art committee with solid evidence that this was the original “Last Da Vinci” as it had long been called. The committee agreed, and with that, the price shot up through the “orb” of the sky. It sold just a year or so ago to some Saudi Prince – obviously not a Christian –for 450 million dollars, the highest price ever paid for a painting at a public auction. Why one would pay such a price when Christ would no doubt have blanched at this ostentatious waste is almost beyond me, except that, in the rare art world, it is known that the price of the work of a master will probably increase. And so it was more of a monetary investment that also, I suppose, lavished some snobbish credentials on the prince.
Except that maybe it won’t give the prince any of the above. It is accepted by the experts in general that elements of the painting – perhaps large elements - were done by Leonardo’s students under his tutelage in his workshop, which was common. Unfortunately for the prince, it might be that they and others who came after accomplished the entire piece. Without at least some work of the master on the painting, it could never be accepted as a true Leonardo.
They, those experts who were not on the committee, have reasons to believe that this is so. For one, the painting has been so retouched over the years that its provenance is difficult to prove with such things that only art experts know. There are also discrepancies in style: the thumb of the right hand, for instance, seems to some not quite up to Leonardo’s standards. And then there is the Orb. If the reader is interested, look it up yourself and take a look at the Orb. Were it technically correct, a glass orb would bend the sight of the palm that is holding it, as well as the cloth that is behind it. It does not. Leonardo would never let such details go, even if done by a student. Except, says another expert, Leonardo was an ardent student himself of rock crystals, such as quartz, which he studied with the very woman who might have been the model for “Mona Lisa.” Rock crystal does not bend that which is behind it, but rather double-refracts it (that is, shows two straight refractions) – which is exactly what this orb does to the palm that is holding it. So it might be that the Orb is key to the authenticity and price of the painting. But what does the Orb mean?
In the Ptolemaic universe, which I vaguely recall is geocentric, the “heavens” are represented by a crystal orb that encircles the Earth. And so this is, with Christ holding our heaven in his hand, ready to give it to all who share his peace. The Orb of Being, then, is our perfected self, aligned with the heaven(s). I do not think I thought of that when I named my messy last novel, although it is now clear that it was exceedingly appropriate, given that the story’s hero was elevated to heaven in the end. So it is that the Orb – the will of heaven, or God, or his Holy Spirit - always gives in surprising ways, ways that we might not become aware of for months or even decades later.
Or sometimes, far, far less time. “Salvator Mundi” arrived last Saturday afternoon, a package as desired as any Christmas present. It found a place for itself on the wall in front of my desk, where I saw it in the light of my desk lamp and gasped. Even the reproduction is that good, although as a novice in art, I cannot say exactly why. I could not sit and relish it for long, however, as the rain from earlier in the day was starting up again. With no outdoor work possible, I seemed the right time to head out for mass which was soon to start. I would be leaving the ‘Salvator’ on his own. Or so I thought.
But no. Instead, he followed me right into church. After the usual preamble and the Gospel, the priest – who I have found has an odd telepathic connection with me and some others – gave his homily. I was almost but not quite shocked when he began by mentioning Leonardo Da Vinci and his noble work, and how his students helped him create his masterpieces by following his example. This, said the Father, is how Jesus worked with his disciples – he was the master who taught the lessons that they later carried to the world. We too, he said, are called to spread his lessons as were the original disciples. He did not have to add that in this way, we would achieve what was in the ‘Salvator’s” left hand – the Orb of crystal that is heaven. And this Orb was just as valuable whether achieved through the master or the student, or by someone who had become a student himself. The blessing of the master was all that was necessary for the work to lift one to heights even beyond the price of ‘The Last Leonardo.’
Don’t laugh. There is a world greater than you might think outside our little patch of goecentricity, where anything can and just might happen. A concept might even follow you, maybe for years, from a mediocre work to a masterpiece to the real thing that does not reflect but really was, is, and forever will be.
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