Behold A Pale Horse

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I love it Wib, truly beautiful :)

Beautiful Wib great work you do

A beautiful image created Wib!

Thank you Maria, Dennis, and Chandra. It was a good exercise for me to try something a bit different from my usual choice of compositions.

This painting is somewhat different from my usual fare. I took a recently course on Renaissance Painting and was intrigued with the religious symbolism. I thought I’d try my hand at creating a similar type which I’ve called “Behold A Pale Horse”. It may be helpful to share some of the symbolism I had in mind. The central figure is a pilgrim on the journey of life. The rock in the right foreground with the cross on top are symbols for the Christian Church. The string of beads on the cross form a serpentine shape indicating traditional belief and the fall from grace of humankind and later restoration through Christ’s resurrection. The skull is a “momento mori” – a reminder that we are not immortal and that physical death awaits at the end of our life journey – thus the apparition of the horse. To the left, in the woods, lurks the devil or evil always waiting to lure the unwary from the path of righteousness. However, above all is the guiding light of faith from the upper left.