https://twitter.com/ankaris/status/741837117324550144So specualtion about this encrypted big spoiler
Arnold Böcklin
- Arnold Böcklin is a major nineteenth-century symbolist artist.
- Traditional in his devotion to nature and his sense of expression, Böcklin also
conveys a modern sensibility and spirit in his canvases. Setting his work in an intensely
personal world where mythological creatures encounter the folklore of German mythology, Böcklin achieves a marvellous fusion of the sometimes conflicting trends of Naturalism and Expressionism. Yes there is a painting called Prometheus that he painted!
He uses many myhological creatures as symoblic objects. He often used god Pan, centaurs, naiads and other nymphs!
-
The Island of the Dead. Within six years he would complete five variations of this painting, now considered his most important work. A true masterpiece, the canvas has a moody ambiance that draws the viewer deep inside a dramatic setting that somehow manages to be both fantastical and real. The painting gives the viewer direct access to the painter's private world, a world that is simultaneously dreamy and melancholy. The atmosphere of stillness and mystery was deliberate, Böcklin wanted "a picture to dream over." The title of Isle of the Dead was the suggestion of an art dealer, the artist always referred to the scene as The Tomb Isle. He never gave an official title to the painting deliberately leaving it without it so that the meaning remained open to interpretation by the viewer. (Thats what Ridley wants!!!). Many surrelistic painters made a derivative paintings of this work, and the most prominet is of course one by Salvador Dalí (and of cource HR Giger!!!!).
Giger
Dali
Salvador Dalí in 1932 painted ,,The Real Picture of the Isle of the Dead by Arnold Böcklin at the Hour of the Angelus", but the artist leaves us to work out the connection between the title and his scene of an empty beach. (There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing!). On Dali's version of the painting on the left appear the only objects: a cup with a thin rod attached to it sitting on a block. Using Freudian dream interpretation (which is evident throughout Dali's early work) any receptacle is female (Pandora) and any rod is regarded as phallic (Zeus or Adam and Eve). Read as male and female, these objects could be the reason for Dal's inclusion of the "Angelus" in the title. Ridleys methaphors are the same, he used this dual idea in Alien and more so in Prometheus. Two elements create life. Its an ultimate idea of yin-yang, destruction-creation, Zeus-Prometheus, God-Satan/Lucifer, black goo creates and destroys. This picture by Brocklin can be compared to greek mythology of boatman Charon who ferried souls to the underworld. The water could then be either the River Styx or the River Acheron and his white-clad passenger a recently deceased soul transiting to the afterlife. Lindelof ,,Lost" used this painting as inspiraton. This particular scene on painting could be connected with the Milford sound scene with lake and exploiding ship, there is a great ressmblende with the isle scene if you watch Milford sound scene from the lake towards the land. This first interpretation is just a firts layer interpretation, the most obvious one, and the wrong one! Second is more important to our story and if we introduce all Brocklins works then we can find some connection with Covenant, Paradise Lost, Engineers, ,,GOD", monster, David and humans. If we analyse the symbol of island we may find some clues: According to Jung, the island is refuge from menancing assault of the ,,sea" of unconscious, or in other words, it is the synthesis of consciousness and the will. Now we will introduce Hindi interpretation of this symbol and Matrix is there: ,,Islands can be seen as the area of metaphysical force (Paradise is illusion!!!) where the forces of ,,immense illogic" of the ocean are distilled. It is also a symbol of isolation, of solituse and of DEATH . If we say that island on still sea can represent a reflected and inverted image, a hologram or illusion, well then we get a Matrix vibe. I will mention two more paintings by Brocklin: PROMETHEUS (Landscape painting with sea, waves, rocks and grand forest and mountains in background!) and Ocean Breakers (
One Wayne posted on twitter). A woman standing on a rocky stairs facing a ocean and waves. This scenary is very simillar to that of Isle of the dead. This doors we can see could be behind the Isle of the dead painting. Interestingly if we analyse all this, we can say that woman on painting is in fact Shaw (metaphorically speaking) and she is facing the ocean. She in fact reached the real Paradise and Covenant crew in a ship (a boat) is arrivng to something they think is Paradise but its not, they are in fact entering the maze of illusion. So maybe the answer to question about Shaws whereabouts is this one: She is in the Paradise, but real one and she is trapped within it, something is keeping her there! And what is an ocean? – illusion that shrouds the reality created by someone that wants to hide the real thing ! Maybe Covenant will find beautiful planet with monumental nature, but that very well could be holographic projection and camouflage of the real thing!
The stones and trees on Brocklin painting make for an interesting comparison – both are symbols of the natural world, the former dead and cold, the latter alive yet silent. The apparent lack of human life on the island is made poignant by the inferable knowledge that once upon a time, the stone ruins must have housed living men. Now, however, like death, the island is an isolated, isolating, and lonesome place. Sounds familiar.
Very interesting thing is that on boat there is a woman which husband died (Shaw) and a third person flying a ship/boat> David. There is a painting by Bocklin depicting woman crying on the dead body of her deceised husband killed by Plague!
(The Plague, 1898). Isle of the dead can represent Shaw/David arrival and then the later arrival of Covenant. Bocklin often uses Nymph as a symbol of illusion. We know Covenant (or pod) will wreck on the shores of Milford Sound, maybe the movie will be set on big island?
Brocklin paintings often depict greek god Pan, and other mythologial creatures and religious motifs.
https://twitter.com/ankaris/status/743032514336284672If someone want to look into Bocklins work to try to find something that can be
related to Covenant, here is a full collection of his work
http://www.arnoldbocklin.org/
I just researched a bit and found out many connections of Prometheus and Alien with The Cthulhu Myth.
I know about H. P. Lovecraft and how his works influenced Alien, but my new discoveries could suggest that Ridley will introduce Lovecraft ideas in Covenant. Its enough to say that I found a Locecraft notes with description of the scene we saw on leaked photos from the sets!!! Lovecraft was obsessed with occult and greek god Pan; well some time ago I found Pans face on mural/relief in Prometheus... Coincidentally Arnold Böcklin too was fascinated by Greek god Pan (look his paintings).
Spoiler
