Saturn

Flying off at a bit of a tangent we arrive in orbit around one of the largest planets in our solar system, the sixth planet from the sun, second largest in our solar system, Saturn, a "gas giant" named after the Roman god Saturnus:



Although titled "The Bringer of Old Age" he was also a wicked old bandit who is said to have devoured his own children as shown in this painting by Goya:



But it is as the "Bringer of Old Age", as identified by Holst, that I turn my focus on. I think of those colours which speak to me of old age; yellows and blues, greys and mauves, like my granny's dresses, and her wallpaper [Please remind me never to wear dull colours].

This study in acrylics explores those feelings that arise:



And again:



The dots which have now appeared represent in my mind some of the 61 known moons (not counting the hundreds of small 'moonlets' within the rings).

"Titan" is Saturn's largest moon which I represent here as an old person being gently let towards her demise. After all, Saturn, according to the 1st century poet, Manilius, is "sad, morose, and cold, and is the planet of mortality" and that is why we speak of him as 'The Grim Reaper' and he carries a scythe whose shape is derived from the ring shape around the planet:

There is a bell shape in the top right-hand corner tolling the end of her life, and the planet disc (centre) has clock hands pointing to about five-to-twelve.

Or is that just time for a drink?