The saviour over the door 1913

Nicholas Roerich painted 'The Saviour over the Door' with what looks like tempera or maybe gouache, achieving this matte, slightly chalky surface. There's something so engaging about how Roerich mixes the symbolic with the physical. The angels are rendered with a Byzantine flatness, yet their wings, those yellows, feel like they might just flutter. Look at the way he builds the clouds – these dabs of gold and ochre have real substance. It's not just decoration; it's like Roerich is trying to capture the very essence of the divine. The paint application, though controlled, has a handmade quality. It makes me think of Hilma af Klint, who was similarly engaged with representing spiritual realities through abstract forms. Both artists encourage us to see art as a portal. Ultimately, this painting is an open question about faith and vision.