The allegory between wisdom and strength Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The allegory between wisdom and strength - Essay Example To the left, there is a description on the pedestals of the column that has a quotation from Ecclesiastes, which is â€Å"All is Vanity†. It means that all earthly thing including power, nations, wars, kingship, love and strength and are hence meaningless comparing to heavenly ones, as embodied by Divine. This is evident in Baroque style of painting, representation of the divine in painting. In addition, the theme here is the strength of Hercules, which by no means is comparable to the virtues of divine understanding. Boucher’s position of the figures in the painting, he places the mighty Hercules below Wisdom, who almost slumps downwards. A divine light is above the head of the woman and has one of her breast exposed. Apparently, based on a celestial figure, the saintly woman stands on a small globe, which symbolizes the world as she cast her eyes up to the heavens. It could also suggest that the male (Hercules) is falling while female (Wisdom) is rising. The woman is surrounded by a blue sky while the man is surrounded by earth colors. One could argue that the painting is suggesting that the force fails when faced by gentleness. The halo of light, which is above the woman, is a reflection of her spiritual wisdom. The painting suggests the power harnessing outside the everyday. The structure and patterns that the two artist use, are derived from the energies of the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. However, mythic images are not presented in the person unconscious.