Angels (Paradise).

In most religions, paradise is the blissful location of the first and final human state. M. K. Čiurlionis portrays it as a light and carefree life that still offers the possibility to develop, to climb up the heavenly stairs and rise to even further heights. This narrative of the painting is closely linked to the writings of Camille Flammarion, a popular astronomer at the turn of the twentieth century whom Čiurlionis admired, especially a fragment that describes the imagined face of Mars: “And what a sight as the sun sets... Flowers, fruit and aromas, fantastical palaces rise up from islands overgrown with orange flora. The vast waters glisten like clear mirrors and happy flying couples land spinning in circles on these breathtaking shores... my neighbour, whose wings quiver from anticipation, lands her gentle step on a cluster of flowers...”