Caravaggio, Sleeping Cupid, c. 1608,
Galleria Palantina, Palazzo Pitti, Florence
One is reminded of the Shepherd On the Rock equation of the valley and the mountain or Christ ascending up the mountain and a vision of a message from God and the valley being underneath the earth. Saint John also reminds us of Saint Anthony Abbot who feels like a cross between Saint Anthony and Saint John or the founder of monotheism. We feel him walking around the mountains with a flock of sheep and dreaming of pastoral scenes and then descending to the bottom of the mountains for a divine blessing. You can imagine a very green valley set amongst rocky plains with the darkened shadows of the afternoon sun. The further up the mountain we go the more we find God. When mountains are high enough to be covered with snow, you feel the colours of the rainbow at sunset are communicating Gods divine angels. Mountain ranges seem to travel towards the infinite and the valley is where we descend from the mountain and equals the earthly equation of heaven. The earths surface is where hell exists and mainly with the wrong temperature for the climate your body is prepared for and also when the heart does not find the spiritual belief God has tried to ascend you to. Heaven appears to exist below earth as well for those with a deeper understanding of dark matter or that previously Earth was a star. One wonders with the death of the sun, how long the stars of the solar system will shine for and you feel like starlight permeates from the earths inner core. The plant life on earth appears to resonate Gods divine realm or echo patterns of the stars, the cosmos and the universe. The cycle of the moon, the planets and the stars ascend us to a communication with God via our infinite understanding of reality. Being a human race with many and varied purposes, one feels only through a connection to a divine realm will we find the knowledge of the planet that is necessary to ascend us to heaven.
Annibale Carracci, The Temptation of St. Anthony Abbot, c. 1597-1598,
National Gallery, London
