The Burden

The unusual and otherworldly subject of a small mother-and-child group held aloft by two large disembodied hands in this drawing typifies the imagery of the artist and writer Kahlil Gibran. Like his fellow Symbolist Elihu Vedder (whose work is displayed nearby), Gibran was preoccupied with the transcendence of the soul and the universal experiences of love, spirituality, and the life cycle. The Burden alludes to themes of maternal responsibility and the role of a divine agent guiding human endeavors.