Very complicated. Just a few small points which occur to me. The angel wings are contrasted to... Cerberus, the dog guarding the mouth of hell in Greek mythology.
Why the equation of heaven (or dawn/light), hell and Cerebrus. I think the linking association is Herakles (whom you have once mentioned to me before in another context).
The story:
In the underworld, Hercules met Hades and asked his permission to bring Cerberus to the surface, which Hades agreed to if Hercules could overpower the beast without using weapons. Hercules was able to overpower Cerberus and proceeded to sling the beast over his back, dragging it out of Hades through a cavern entrance in the Peloponnese and bringing it to Eurystheus. The king was so frightened of the beast that he jumped into a pithos, and asked Hercules to return it to the underworld in return for releasing him from his labours.
This makes me think that the piece is a personal response to the labour of art...
Very complicated. Just a few small points which occur to me. The angel wings are contrasted to... Cerberus, the dog guarding the mouth of hell in Greek mythology.
ReplyDeleteWhy the equation of heaven (or dawn/light), hell and Cerebrus. I think the linking association is Herakles (whom you have once mentioned to me before in another context).
The story:
In the underworld, Hercules met Hades and asked his permission to bring Cerberus to the surface, which Hades agreed to if Hercules could overpower the beast without using weapons. Hercules was able to overpower Cerberus and proceeded to sling the beast over his back, dragging it out of Hades through a cavern entrance in the Peloponnese and bringing it to Eurystheus. The king was so frightened of the beast that he jumped into a pithos, and asked Hercules to return it to the underworld in return for releasing him from his labours.
This makes me think that the piece is a personal response to the labour of art...