The Mechanics of Marvel

The Mechanics of a Marvel Commentary by Chloe Cooke Cite Share Show Bible Passage A typical human hand has 27 bones. These bones are surrounded by an intricate web of muscles, ligaments, tendons, sheaths, arteries, veins, and nerves, which connect the hand to the rest of the body. This drawing—‘by the hand’ of Hendrick Goltzius, as we might metaphorically say when attributing authorship to an artist—focusses on the complex anatomical structure of a hand, positioned in an awkward gesture. The precision lends us to contemplate the intricacies of the human hand as well as the artist’s ability to create such a rigorous depiction. Matthew, Mark, and Luke each use the same verb and its cognates to describe the hand of the man whom Jesus heals in this episode: xérainó, ‘withered’ (literally meaning ‘dried up’). To a modern reader, the word suggests an object that has shrivelled or shrunk. The verb is also used by the Gospel writers when Jesus curses a fig tree, causing it to ‘wither/dry up’ and die (Matthew 21:18–22; Mark 11:12–25; Luke 13:6–9). Similarly, the verb used across all three of the Synoptic accounts to denote the healing itself is apokathistemi, ‘restoration’. Goltzius had had his own right hand permanently damaged in a fire when he was just one year old. His impaired hand was an identifier, and at times he covered it to avoid being recognized. The careful manipulation of the hand in this pen drawing—in which he extends individual fingers to different positions, augments the three-dimensionality of veins, and replicates the texture of skin—reveals an artist imagining/imaging this human hand fully restored, and marvelling at its mechanics. References Brown, Peter Scott. 2018. The Riddle of Jael: The History of a Poxied Heroine in Medieval and Renaissance Art and Culture (Leiden: Brill) Leeflang, Huigen, Ger Lujiten and Lawrence W. Nichols. 2003. Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617): Drawings, Prints, and Paintings (Amsterdam: Wanders) Van der Vorst, Patrick. 2024. ‘There was a man in the synagogue who had a withered hand: Mark 3:1–6, 17 January 2024’, www.christian.art, available at: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/mark-3-1-6-2024/ [accessed 30 July 2024]