Tenebrae is Latin for darkness. Edmund de Waal’s Tenebrae #2 consists of fifteen porcelain vessels arranged in a single line. While it is a meditation on shadows, and on how light and colour shift at dusk, it draws on the music of the Tenebrae service of hymns, choral works and prayers held in the Christian Holy Week. During this liturgy, which scholars date from the fifth century, candles are gradually extinguished until there is darkness. These multiple concerns are fused in de Waal’s installation of subtly modulated porcelain objects. Each embodies the memory of its making, as we sense the fluidity of the clay as it is drawn into form on the potter’s wheel. Tenebrae #2 is a contemplative work, understated and serene, marked by the inflected gesture left by the maker’s hands. EKB