Encounter
Death and rebellion
September 14, 2008
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Two marble sculptures, each nearly seven feet tall, loom in the Louvre.
In this age of instant gratification and replication, are these Michelangelo masterpieces - one "The Rebellious Slave," the other "The Dying Slave" - still moving to their viewers?
Sit before them for one hour, then another.
The slaves' thick-muscled bodies are frozen forms, one twisted, the other relaxed, as their so-obvious strength has been stilled. More mystery, though, comes from their eyes. For one slave, his eyes are open, yet seem hollow. For the other, his eyes are closed. What then, of the soul of each?
The time-worn tensions, carved six centuries ago, still resonate in 2008.
TOM HAINES
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
