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Sub Luna

Hal Douglas Himes

Medium

United States
ca. 2019
Oil on paper

“In the medieval world view,” said Himes, “everything temporal was considered to be ‘sub luna,’ beneath the moon. The moon was the threshold, the portal to a higher realm. The stairway in the painting leads from the gaudy earthly realm to a more pure celestial realm.”

Exploring the idea of a gateway to a higher realm, Sub Luna draws on imagery found in Genesis of Jacob’s dream of a ladder leading to heaven. Jacob ultimately saw the temple as the conduit between heaven and earth.