Question

according to Auden's "musee des beaux arts," who understands human suffering

Answer 1

According to Auden's "Musee des beaux-arts," the old painters from the past understood human suffering.

Explanation:

• The first stanza of the poem forms the theme of the poem, that old painters comprehended the nature of human suffering, and the second stanza delivers a specific example, which Auden defines and examines in more detail.

• Auden notes that the ‘Old Masters’ – painters functioning in Europe during the Renaissance and Early Modern period understood the character of agony and its ‘human position’: specifically, that, no matter the strength or momentousness of the incident to the person undergoing it, there were people in the encompassing vicinity who were indifferent to or even ignorant of what was happening.