关于苦难，关于崇拜，老大师们不同意。当有人受苦时，没有人吃饭，没有人走路，没有人打开窗户，没有人呼吸，因为受苦的人看着受苦的人。在圣塞巴斯蒂安圣艾琳哀悼一个火炬的火焰是唯一的光。除了使女的眼睛(她哭了，用一块布遮住了眼睛)，所有的眼睛都盯着他的胸膛，像一根柱子;圣伊雷娜张开双手，做出圣母的姿态，揭示、接受她所不理解的东西。她的手说:“看!看哪!”在她旁边，一个和尚戴着头巾，低着头，双手合十，在做丧事。他们仿佛还在注视着钉在十字架上，刺穿基督肋旁的长矛。同样的指甲刺穿了他们所有的手和脚，同样的稀释的血液，混合着水，从他们的两侧滴落下来。 The taste of vinegar is on every tongue That gasps, "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" They watch, they are, the one thing in the world. So, earlier, everything is pointed In van der Goes' Nativity, toward the naked Shining baby, like the needle of a compass. The different orders and sizes of the world: The angels like Little People, perched in the rafters Or hovering in mid-air like hummingbirds; The shepherds, so big and crude, so plainly adoring; The medium-sized donor, his little family, And their big patron saints; the Virgin who kneels Before her child in worship; the Magi out in the hills With their camels--they ask directions, and have pointed out By a man kneeling, the true way; the ox And the donkey, two heads in the manger So much greater than a human head, who also adore; Even the offerings, a sheaf of wheat, A jar and a glass of flowers, are absolutely still In natural concentration, as they take their part In the salvation of the natural world. The time of the world concentrates On this one instant: far off in the rocks You can see Mary and Joseph and their donkey Coming to Bethlehem; on the grassy hillside Where their flocks are grazing, the shepherds gesticulate In wonder at the star; and so many hundreds Of years in the future, the donor, his wife, And their children are kneeling, looking: everything That was or will be in the world is fixed On its small, helpless, human center. After a while the masters show the crucifixion In one corner of the canvas: the men come to see What is important, see that it is not important. The new masters paint a subject as they please, And Veronese is prosecuted by the Inquisition For the dogs playing at the feet of Christ, The earth is a planet among galaxies. Later Christ disappears, the dogs disappear: in abstract Understanding, without adoration, the last master puts Colors on canvas, a picture of the universe In which a bright spot somewhere in the corner Is the small radioactive planet men called Earth.