The Promised Land

McCahon, in a rare example of self-portraiture, includes himself in this painting. He stands in place of the prophet Moses; the hills of Nelson, with Golden Bay inset, are his Israel. The title of the painting hangs in the sky as if it were an utterance from the angel who hovers above the hills. As befits a scene of proclamation, the jug suggests the purity of the land and the burning candle light and hope. The candle, however, is also a traditional symbol of vanitas; that is, the transient nature of human life. (McCahon's Visible Mysteries, 2004)

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