The Angel of Life

In Giovanni Segantini’s The Angel of Life, motherhood, childhood, nature, and life continuity acquire a profound contemplative and symbolic meaning. In the center of the composition, there is a woman who is sitting on the branch of a huge and twisting tree. She is holding a baby close to herself. These people with the little baby are the first things one can see in the picture, and thus, it creates intimacy that is rather uncommon for the wide space of quiet scenery surrounding them. It seems that human life and nature are inseparable from each other. There is something supernatural about the female character presented in this painting. Unlike usual women doing their usual routine activities, this woman is an allegory, or maybe even a spiritual being. She is shown in a gentle pose with protecting posture that implies gentleness, protection, and love. Her baby, held by her body, represents innocence, birth, and continuity of life. Thus, their relation makes the emotional center of the composition and prompts viewers to interpret motherhood as an incredibly strong supporting power. Tree where the figures are depicted is also very important. It represents unusual and twisting branches, which give a certain structure to the composition, but, at the same time, have a lot of symbolism connected with growth, fertility, regeneration, and Tree of Life. Although some portions of the tree are left bare, the mother and her infant survive on the tree, which shows that life can thrive even in adverse conditions. In this instance, nature itself forms an important element of the picture apart from serving as its backdrop. Thus, Segantini creates a dreamy atmosphere by mixing realistic components of the landscape with idealised and spiritualised representation of figures. This painting may be considered to be one of the examples of symbolistic approach in painting of Europe of the late nineteenth century when ordinary subjects were used for representing the philosophic idea. This painting can be considered to be something more than just a picture with a mother and a child. It can be regarded as an allegory of life, motherhood, nature, innocence, and regeneration.