The Arise of Macbeth

This is the third piece of the collection The Tragedy of Macbeth. The painting depicts the ascendance of the couple to the throne and the dark deeds around it.

The piece can be read from bottom to top, starting with the shadow of a hooded six arms female figure representing The Three Witches who began the plot. The red carpet that leads to the throne, symbolically also leads to bloodshed, indicating how violent the path to the crown will be; blood dropping from an empty throne where the prize awaits.

On the left, the cause; shadows concealing the floating dagger Macbeth sees while attempting to murder the king. On the right, the consequence; the ghostly apparition of Macbeth’s friend, Banquo, assassinated at his order. Surrounding the throne are sculptures of Scotland’s coat of arms that can be seen in the first collection’s piece engraved on Macbeth’s sword. The presence of the all-seeing raven at the top of the artwork, on behalf of The Witches, raises the question of who’s really pulling the strings.

The composition is mainly made up of sharp angles, in line with the dangerous and drastic events leading to a painful outcome. And the predominant color, among the dramatic palette, is the dark purple also present in the rest of the collection pieces where greed and evil prevail.

As for all the pieces that are part of this collection, symmetry is ever-present; purity and temptation, determination and remorse, cause and consequence, what in shadows rises in light falls; a sense of balance across the whole collection.

Inspiration: William Shakespeare’s The Tragedie of Macbeth