Just like how the world was created in the story of Adam and Eve, so can Noah and the Ark be seen as the world’s second beginning. In this painting, the artist chose to focus on the moment after the flood. Instead of making a depiction of the deluge when all is lost, ‘After the Flood’ shows how life starts to reassemble. The flood has gone, the horrors of the catastrophe have been washed away and the world starts to wake up.
Ghiberti showed in his masterwork a small group of people stepping out of the Ark and observing a changed world for the first time. Just like Noah can be seen as the second Adam, so can a female figure be seen as the successor of Eve.
Because of this, the artist chose to depict a woman lying on a rock amidst a wasteland of water. She is waking up, her hair still wet and her form weary from the disaster. The rock and the woman are all alone in this flooded world, but some small flowers and plants spring forth between the crevices and mud. Though the dark clouds are still hovering over the world, the sun is starting to break through.
This piece shows the stage between grief and hope; the hope for a new beginning. It shows the viewer the moment one licks their own wounds and starts to see that there really could be a future once again. The story of the flood is applicable to many situations in life and in the world. ‘After the Flood’ shows both sides of the same universal coin: utter human suffering but also humanity's ability to heal and to see the sun rising once again.
To request info for this item please use the following form
