The Bruising

Acrylic on canvas panel, 14” x 18”

The Lord God said to the serpent...

“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

GENESIS 3:14-15

This is actually a different painting than the one first posted here. I repainted it recently because the original version met with an unfortunate varnishing application and alas, is no more. It was such a simple piece that it was easier to just redo it than try to repair it. Besides, there were some things about the original I didn’t like much anyway and I’ve attempted to correct those aspects in this new version. It's still essentially the same picture though, so I just replaced the old file instead of submitting it as something new.

I consider this to be one of the most important images I’ve attempted because it depicts the central conflict of world history. All of mankind is divided into these two lines of spiritual descent, which are locked in perpetual animosity: the offspring of the serpent versus the offspring of the woman. The war between these two lines rages on through the millennia until it ultimately reaches its climax in the battle between Satan and Jesus Christ.