![]() ![]() In the novel, while discussing the painting, another character asks Myshkin, “Do you believe in God?” Paradoxically, however, in creating his fictional prince, Dostoevsky drew from the mundane realities of his own life.įor example, Prince Myshkin, like Dostoevsky, also traveled to Basel and saw the original Holbein painting of Christ. In creating such a character, Dostoevsky inevitably made a literary mirror of Christ, the Prince of Peace. The prince, known as an “idiot” for his epileptic seizures and his innocent child-like view of the world, was Dostoevsky’s creation of a “perfectly beautiful man,” one who spoke the now-famous phrase “ Beauty will save the world.” Dostoevsky’s prince was someone who embraced and loved the world all while perfectly knowing its darkness. Whether consciously or not, Dostoevsky answers the question through the novel’s protagonist, Prince Myshkin. ![]() That novel, in many ways, explores a central question that relates to Holbein’s shocking painting: How do we reconcile Christ’s literal resurrection with the brutal reality of his death? It is a question many Christians around the world may ponder this weekend as they journey from the sorrow of Good Friday into the glory and triumph of Christ’s Easter resurrection. ![]()
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