[Still Life with lamps]

Traditionally, the objects that composed still lifes were loaded with symbolism, reflecting the belief that everything had both an everyday and a religious meaning. Thus a candle was a symbol of the transient nature of life, a book represented piety, cherries stood for paradise and so on.

McCahon’s use of candles and lamps throughout his work, and the symbolism he attributes to them, influence our readings of these objects when they appear in other works by him. As art historian Norman Bryson writes: ‘The meaning of a picture is never inscribed on its surface as brushstrokes are; meaning arises in collaboration between signs (visual or verbal) and interpreters.’ (McCahon's Visible Mysteries, 2004)

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