(With apologies to Simon and Garfunkle on the title.)
Art Museum. Caravaggio exhibit. A painting of St Jerome by an artist of Caravaggio’s time and influence, and I said to Jef, my sister-in-law, Come look at this one. (I didn’t quite say, what’s wrong with this picture.)
I had been taught to see this detail by an art historian I took a class from in college: I told her, Look at his extended arm
(What about it…?)
That’s a female arm, not male. Women’s arms have a distinct change of direction between the elbow and tips of the fingers, as if designed to cradle a baby; men’s lower arms, on the other hand, are by comparison straight from elbow to wrist.
(How many of you are holding out your arms and looking right now…)