And There Fell a Great Star from Heaven, Burning as it were a Lamp 1899

Odilon Redon made this lithograph, “And There Fell a Great Star from Heaven, Burning as it were a Lamp,” in France during the late nineteenth century. The work is one of a series inspired by the Book of Revelation, a text that had gained significant cultural traction during a period characterized by rapid social change and existential uncertainty. Redon’s image is a potent mix of Christian symbolism and fin-de-siècle anxieties. We see the "great star," a symbol of divine wrath and cosmic upheaval, plunging towards the earth amidst a scene populated by grotesque figures and monstrous apparitions. The artist draws on a rich vein of religious and cultural references to create a deeply unsettling vision. Redon was part of the Symbolist movement, which rejected positivism and realism, embracing instead the subjective realm of dreams, myths, and spirituality. His art can be understood as a critique of the institutional structures that shape our understanding of the world. To interpret Redon, we might turn to art criticism, religious history, and the intellectual history of 19th century France. Through that we can understand the conditions that gave rise to its unsettling imagery.