Against the Gods by Frank Frazetta |
What a momentous painting this is!
Unlike Adam who extended
his hand to touch the fingertip of a benevolent god, here we see a warrior with
his blade upheld to the heavens challenging the might and dominance of the very
gods that he was supposed to fear and honor.
Created in 1966 this early work of Frank Frazetta calls
on many of the themes that would make him famous in later years as the warrior
is designed with a mind bent on the perfection of the human body and the
attention to detail spent on the prominent foreground images is outstanding. The
ghostly eagle swooping about his ankles harkens back to the themes of bravery
and independence that can so often be found in Frazetta’s works.
Against the Gods originally graced the cover of Thongor Against the Gods by Lin Carter which
was published in 1967 by the Paperback Library. Like many of you reading
this if I had run across this book when it was first published I would have
given it a second look on that cover alone.
I always figured the eagle was there to illustrate just how high up he is, like on some isolated mountain peak. The top of the world.
ReplyDeleteBut, your metaphor has more weight. :)
Either works for me, but I tend to over think things sometimes. ;)
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