Anne Frank

Martine Jacobs · 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

Anne Under the Eye of Compassion – 2009 Artist: Martine Jacobs Medium: Pastel on wood panel, 100 × 100 cm Theme: Lamentation, spiritual refuge, historical trauma Description: This large pastel work by Martine Jacobs is a visual lament — a deeply personal response to the atrocities inflicted upon a Dutch girl named Anne. The composition, rendered in soft yet haunting tones, asks unanswerable questions: Was God there? Was there Buddhist compassion in her suffering? Martine portrays Anne not in torment, but in release — lifted from earthly horror and held in the quiet gaze of a divine presence. Here, God is embodied as Buddha: serene, watchful, and infinitely compassionate. The contrast between historical violence and spiritual refuge creates a tension that pulses through the image. The landscape behind Anne is abstract and symbolic — a shoreline of memory, a sky of mourning. Her figure, contemplative and calm, becomes a vessel of transcendence. Though the grief remains, the painting offers a gesture of healing: a space where suffering is witnessed, and the soul is gently honored.