The Ironical Picture
The scenery shows the crater of Mount St. Helens, "Spirit Lake" and the existence of only one life. The day of judgment has arrived, and the vast soul group of all people who had ever lived approach God. In the lower left, we see the daughter of friends of ours, who died at the age of four, holding the hand of an eighty-year old man from our neighborhood, who later took his life rather than to be a burden to his family. The girl lived too briefly; the man felt he had lived too long. The woman who had to experience these traumatic events represents both the mother of the child and the wife of the man. In the group of the physically challenged we see: the blind man who lived in darkness; the deaf mute who experienced a silent existence; the insane who lost touch with the world - all people whose daily progress was difficult and limited. In the center stands a slave who had to do as he was told. Next to him stands the king who constantly lived under the pressure of having to make decisions and is now being judged for a wrong one. In the right foreground is a boy born into poverty with little hope of education and advancement. On the right is a beggar, who would have been willing to help others if he had only had more money. Besides him stands in contrast, a rich woman who had been taken advantage of and loved only for her material riches. Behind them is one falsely executed for a crime he did not commit. In the distance stands an orphan who never understood why she had been denied parental love. These figures represent entire generations who would have preferred to live in different circumstances, all asking the same question: WHY ?
(The original painting is from the private collection of Hans Paris of Vienna, Austria.)
Reproductions are available in our gift shop.
The scenery shows the crater of Mount St. Helens, "Spirit Lake" and the existence of only one life. The day of judgment has arrived, and the vast soul group of all people who had ever lived approach God. In the lower left, we see the daughter of friends of ours, who died at the age of four, holding the hand of an eighty-year old man from our neighborhood, who later took his life rather than to be a burden to his family. The girl lived too briefly; the man felt he had lived too long. The woman who had to experience these traumatic events represents both the mother of the child and the wife of the man. In the group of the physically challenged we see: the blind man who lived in darkness; the deaf mute who experienced a silent existence; the insane who lost touch with the world - all people whose daily progress was difficult and limited. In the center stands a slave who had to do as he was told. Next to him stands the king who constantly lived under the pressure of having to make decisions and is now being judged for a wrong one. In the right foreground is a boy born into poverty with little hope of education and advancement. On the right is a beggar, who would have been willing to help others if he had only had more money. Besides him stands in contrast, a rich woman who had been taken advantage of and loved only for her material riches. Behind them is one falsely executed for a crime he did not commit. In the distance stands an orphan who never understood why she had been denied parental love. These figures represent entire generations who would have preferred to live in different circumstances, all asking the same question: WHY ?
(The original painting is from the private collection of Hans Paris of Vienna, Austria.)
Reproductions are available in our gift shop.
