John
W. Dixon, Jr., Art
as a Means of Thinking and of Grace
Jesus's gesturing hand is isolated against the sky, the source of the
imperiously healing energy that is carried along the gesturing arms
of the onlookers.
For Lazarus, the gesture is the revivifying energy of the grace of
God. To the others the energy of the gesture is the astonishing revelation
of the healing power of God present among them.
Gesture is the expressive action of the hands. For most of us, gestures,
when they do not have an immediate function such as pointing, are aimless,
unintelligent movements. With Giotto, gestures proceed from the inner
character of the actors in a drama, their emotions made evident in the
gestures and postures of their bodies.
