Ahasuerus at the End of the World

Artist: Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl
Style: Symbolism
Genre: mythological painting
Date: 1888
Copyright: Public domain

The bearded man is Ahasuerus, the legendary wanderer at the end of the world. He is the last man in the polar wilderness, caught between the angel of hope and the specter of death. Before him lies a fallen female figure, the personification of dead humanity, as crows circle ominously. (From Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney)