We, as westerners, live today in a society of a tacitly accepted moral relativism and therefore moral confusion and blindness. As a recently and decidedly Post-Christian society, we have rebelled against our own past, yet we find ourselves unable to loose the shackles of our monotheistic and moralistic history. We all desire, no it's more than just desire, we all know with certainty that things like justice, honor, beauty, compassion, and charity are real and objective goods, yet we mock certain of these truths to a shockingly frightening degree. As C.S. Lewis, in The Abolition of Man, wrote, "We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst."
This painting is my hopefully mysterious allegory of this moral confusion. I have hinted at older symbols of justice and beauty, but distorted them. In the distance, the ruins of our monotheistic history can still just be seen. I don't want to, through an all too detailed description of the painting, strip away the possibility of the viewers own interpretations so I will end here with the hope that these two paragraphs have offered just enough of my thoughts and intentions to subtly illuminate the work, yet leave the viewer peering into the still dark mystery.
In the Shadow of the Ruins
oil on linen
24x36 inches
Limited edition prints of this painting are available.
Please contact me via email for purchasing information
donovanfitzgeraldart@gmail.com
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