The Worship of Mammon

By De Morgan Collection

De Morgan Foundation

By Evelyn De Morgan in 1909. This painting is symbolic of people's desperation for wealth. Evelyn uses symbolism heavily in her work. She hoped that her paintings would get people to think about issues of greed and belief.   

The Worship of Mammon (1909) by Evelyn De MorganDe Morgan Collection

Mammon is the symbol of wealth in the Bible. He is regarded as an evil influence and was wrongly worshipped.

This was painted in 1909. It is an oil painting on canvas.

Mammon is holding out a bag of money to the woman, she has rejected it,

Instead she is clutching onto Mammon's leg, asking for him to give her all the wealth that he can.

Evelyn has painted the woman hands in great detail. She is gripping tightly onto his leg which adds to the feeling of desperation that the viewer feels when looking at the woman.

She is bending down at his feet as if in the presence of deity.

Evelyn has focused the viewer to the woman. It seems as though the woman's robes are moving around her, this gives the painting an overall sense of movement and realism.

Evelyn has painted the woman's face to look desperate and withdraw, this adds to the woman's pleading form.

Her robes are in pink and purple tones, which reflects her damaged outlook on spiritual wealth and worship.

The pink and purple of the woman's robes are also symbolic of spirituality and of worship. Evelyn often used these colours in her artwork.

Mammon has been cropped out of the painting by Evelyn. This shows his towering size.

Mammon is the depiction of wealth. He became an evil influence that was worshipped in the place of God especially in the Industrial Revolution.

Mammon is depicted, by Evelyn, to have a slight smirk, this makes him seem devious and devilish.

Evelyn has painted Mammon in a bronze and gold colour palette, this gives the impression that Mammon is a statue.

Evelyn De Morgan has used a dark blue for the night sky. This is a reflection of the dark presents that Mammon has.

Evelyn has painted mountains in the background. She has used the same colour palette for both the sky and the mountain so that it is hard to distinguish between them,

This makes it clear to the viewer that the scene is at nighttime adding to the dark aura of the rest of the painting.

The Worship of Mammon 

Painting done by Evelyn De Morgan in 1909

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