HERRI MET DE BLES'S WAY TO CALVARY: A SILENIC LANDSCAPE

Abstract

Herri met de Bles's Way to Calvary is a ‘visual exegesis’ closely related to Erasmus' exegetical theory. Erasmus conceived exegesis as a dialectical tension between the two extremes senses of the Biblical text (literal and spiritual), mediated by the figure of allegory. Not only does allegory designate Christ, but also the veiled language of the Scriptures and Christ's constant use of enigmatic, paradoxical and obscure figures. Interpreted in the light of the Erasmian exegetical model, and related to the figure of the Silenus popularized by the Christian humanist, Bles's landscape reveals the presence of a specific pictorial phenomenon of crypto‐anthropomorphosis. This landscape of a procession following a tiny mocked Christ‐Silenus, is also a portrait of a gigantic rocky mocking Silenus. This pictorial device is an integral part of the exegetical logic of the picture and is instrumental in inviting the beholder to conversion.

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