While phimosis is normal among male infants as the foreskin is attached to the glans in early development of the penis, in adults the condition is pathological. The day after my encounter with Jesus, I am due to have a centimetre of my foreskin removed for a condition called phimosis, which means tight foreskin. Look as I might, I could see neither knife nor holy penis. In this painting by someone from the workshop of Giovanni Bellini, the sumptuously bearded mohel, tasked with removing the foreskin, hides the operation from our view with his hand. Without wishing to get too CSI: Bethlehem about this, there is very little physical evidence to warrant the title The Circumcision. T he day before I had the chop, I visited the National Gallery in London to study a painting of the baby Jesus.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |