Study notes

Detail 1 · The Trinity

The distant trees

Look into the luminous distance. The original study reads three trees growing from a shared root as a symbol of the Christian Trinity. Their position draws the eye through the woodland towards the light.

Original study notes

1. The Trinity. In the luminous evanescent distance the clump of three trees from one foundation root represents The Trinity. “That was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world”. Gospel according to St John, chapter 1 verse 9. God the Father is on the left and the creator of the luminous evanescent Light. God the Son is in the middle with the bifurcated tree-trunk representing His dual Nature as Man and Son of God. God the Holy Ghost is on the right. See also the trio of trees to the right in both the Heart of the Andes 1859 and Twilight in the Wilderness 1860.

References mentioned

• Heart of the Andes (1859)
• Twilight in the Wilderness (1860)
• John 1:9

Detail 2 · Trees and rocks

The foreground elm

The tall elm appears to rise from the large rock on the left. The study connects this tree with two others across the composition, reading the group as a second expression of the Trinity.

Original study notes

2. God the Father. There is a further trilogy or Trinity of inter-connecting Trees and Rocks. The tall Elm to the left foreground, growing above and almost out of the Main Rock represents God the Father (and the New World).

Detail 3 · A tree in decline

The leaning oak

Follow the leaning oak across the centre of the painting. Its damaged form and the light behind it are interpreted in the study as references to Christ, sacrifice and the way towards the light.

Original study notes

3. God the Son. The ghostly Main Oak beginning to topple and die represents, God the Son (who died on the Cross to save mankind). It seems to be issuing from the inverted ‘L’ shaped base cut into the middle rock (Does the ‘L’ stand for Lesson, because the main oak and the rock form a forward pointing ‘L’ in the middle of the painting as well?). It is also a reminder of the Charter Oak which fell down in 1856 much to Church’s dismay. Christ’s charter is, of course, The New Testament. This ghostly Main Oak also stands in front of the luminous evanescent light which shines through the tree and links the shaft with the brightest part of the sky. The Divine Light.

References mentioned

• The Charter Oak
• The New Testament

Detail 4 · A pointing branch

The right-hand tree

On the right, a tree identified tentatively as a maple stands beside a fallen trunk. The study reads their connection as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, with the fallen tree directing attention towards the water and rock.

Original study notes

4. God the Holy Ghost. A maple (?) to the right, next to the pointing fallen tree and connected by it to the third Main Rock represents the Holy Spirit — God the Holy Ghost. “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God”. Saint John Chapter 1 verse 33–34. The Pointing tree is pointing towards the Light on the water and the Main Rock both of which are the metaphorical representations of Christ.

References mentioned

• John 1:33–34

Detail 5 · The artist’s signature

The great foreground rock

The largest rock anchors the foreground. The original study places Church’s signature near its waterline and interprets its alignment with the illuminated stream as part of the painting’s spiritual meaning.

Original study notes

5. God the Father. There are three Main Rocks. The largest, to the left, represents The Creator of all things — God the Father (Church’s and nature’s maker). Inscribed on this rock but low down near the water where it is continually immersed, washed and baptized is, the inscription F.E. Church ’57. This angled inscription points in a straight line towards the Light on the Water and the Trinity of trees in the luminous evanescent distance. Church recognizes that in this painting he is merely God’s servant and that he also needs to remind himself of the Way of Christ. The Elm, growing above the rock represents, Him as well as the New World.

Detail 6 · Light on stone

The middle rock

Light catches the angled surface of the middle rock. The study pairs it with the oak above, interpreting both as representations of Christ within what it calls a “river of Life”.

Original study notes

6. God the Son. The middle rock, in this river of Life, with the Light shining on it represents God the Son with the ghostly Main Oak above representing Him, too. See the preparatory sketch In the New England Woods (now retitled Woodland Stream by Cooper Hewitt) 1856 (AAT attribution), and an associated oil sketch A Stream in the New England Mountains in References.

References mentioned

• In the New England Woods (now retitled Woodland Stream by Cooper Hewitt) 1856 (AAT attribution)
• A Stream in the New England Mountains

Detail 7 · The way of the water

The rock on the right

A third rock lies behind the fallen tree on the right. The study links it with the Holy Spirit and compares its position with rocks in two related sketches.

Original study notes

7. God the Holy Ghost. The Rock representing God the Holy Ghost is behind (and the inspiration and guiding spirit of) the pointing fallen tree which is pointing here to the Light on the Water and the Way of Christ. For those souls with doubting (or no) faith, God the Holy Spirit can help them by pointing them in the direction of Christ. As mentioned previously it is connected to the maple which also represents God the Holy Ghost. It is very similar in size, shape and position to the rock behind the pointing tree in the preparatory sketch, In the New England Woods (now retitled Woodland Stream by Cooper Hewitt) 1856 (AAT attribution) and to the only sunlit Rock in A Stream in the New England Mountains. See References.

References mentioned

• In the New England Woods (now retitled Woodland Stream by Cooper Hewitt) 1856 (AAT attribution)
• A Stream in the New England Mountains

Detail 8 · Paradise lost and regained

Darkness and light

Compare the dark opening beneath the trees with the sunlit woodland beyond the stream. The study interprets this contrast through the themes of temptation, paradise and the Garden of Eden.

Original study notes

8. The Forces of Evil — Paradise Lost. Here is the ‘region’ of indescribable darkness representing Satan and Paradise Lost. Our Curator has found a dark green (inverted ‘L’ shaped) door frame (or gateway to Hell?) Approached by an indistinct, stepped, stony pathway. “Then Jesus led up of the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil”. Saint Matthew Ch. 4 verse 1.

The Forces of Good — Paradise Regained. Here is the ‘region’ of Light reflected off the light green trees in the luminous evanescent distance representing The Holy Trinity — God and Paradise Regained. “And the Light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not”. Saint John Ch 1 verse 5.

The Garden of Eden. “Many mid 19th Century Americans would have found a particular relevance in any work of art that made reference to the Garden of Eden, for the New World was, of course widely regarded by its proud citizens as a second Eden”. Dr. F. Kelly pages 31–32 Frederic Edwin Church and the National Landscape.

References mentioned

• Matthew 4:1
• John 1:5
• Franklin Kelly, Frederic Edwin Church and the National Landscape, pp. 31–32

Detail 9 · The Divine Light

The shaft of light

Trace a diagonal from the brightest opening in the sky towards the lower right. The study uses this line to connect intersecting branches, the oak and the illuminated water, while the left-hand recess remains in shadow.

Original study notes

9. The Divine Light. In the right hand corner there is a similar shaped amorphous oval to the one in the ghostly Main Oak which is formed by crossed intersecting branches. These are set along the diagonal line which points to the brightest part of the sky — to the Divine Light on High and which mystically Lights the Water. The invisible shaft of light mysteriously leaves the ‘region’ of indescribable darkness — Paradise lost — unlit. “And the Light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not”. Saint John Chapter 1 verse 5.

References mentioned

• John 1:5

Detail 10 · Redemption

The crossed branches

Look for the small cross formed by branches on the right. The study reads it as a final reference to redemption, bringing together the trees, rocks and light on the water into a Christian interpretation of the scene.

Original study notes

10. Redemption. Church repeats the Christian lesson and message with the Way of the Cross. Here he uses the Cross of small branches (as he did again in Twilight in the Wilderness 1860) but it is pointing in benediction, towards the Light on the Middle Rock, The Light on the Water and the Way of the Water which represents Christ. “Let the Light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven”. Saint Mark Ch 5 verse 16. With this painting Church has given us his good works. This is his prayer, poem and lesson, which glorifies God.

The Trees, Rocks, the Way and Light on the Water represents The Trinity. Christ’s invocation is for us to follow — flow — His Way towards the Trinity of Trees in the luminous evanescent distance — a reminder that by dying for us on The Cross he “Recovered Paradise to all mankind” ‘and Eden raised in the waste wilderness’ (Paradise Regained — page 1 lines 3 and 7) which is glued to part of the old stretcher together with a print of Christ’s Baptism and another of The Risen Christ crushing Satan under foot.

Editorial note: The original annotation attributes the “Let the Light shine” quotation to Mark 5:16. This citation is retained in the transcription and needs checking before publication.

References mentioned

• Twilight in the Wilderness (1860)
• Paradise Regained, opening lines