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Why This Puzzling Painting Shows the Strangest Creation Story in Art
Secrets and symbols that forged our galaxy
Against shades of brilliant aquamarine blue, the figures in this painting twist and spiral spectacularly.
At the heart of this movement is a striking motif: a woman springs from her celestial bed as a man holds a suckling baby to her breast.
The whole composition fans outwards from this focal point like spokes on a wheel.
Above the woman’s arm is a corona of stars.
Painted by the Italian artist Tintoretto, The Origin of the Milky Way attempts to tell the story of how the stars in the night sky were created. At the crux of the image is a story of betrayal and deceit, insinuating that anthropomorphous desires and the greater cosmos are intimately linked.
So how do we go about making sense of this loaded painting?
Suckling the mortal child
We see Jupiter, the father of the gods, descending from the upper right of the image, clothed in red and blue robes. Alongside Jupiter is his dual sign, an eagle…
