The Progress of a Soul

In the first part, called The Entrance, Denys’ animal skin clothes are in harmony with the rich pattern of the natural world around him.

He is full of hope and enthusiasm, blissfully ignorant of life's realities. It’s been suggested that he might actually be singing as he plucks his lyre.

In the second panel called The Stress, Denys has grown older and is wiser to the challenges of life.

Nature is changed. The bright golden sun from The Entrance has disappeared into a swirling dark sky,

and the rabbit (left) now hangs lifeless in the mouth of a vulture, its blood dripping.

In the third panel, Despair, an exhausted Denys, on the brink of death, hangs from the vine branches.

The briar thorns close to his feet refer to the crown of thorns placed on Christ at the Crucifixion, introducing Christian symbolism into an otherwise pagan scene.

In the final panel, The Victory, Denys is seen after death, reborn into eternal life.

He has been awoken with a kiss from a red haired, red winged angel, suggesting he has entered the realm of heaven.