Another in our collection of Anonymous's works,
demonstrating again her extraordinary range of talent.
The hand-colored etching represents the Biblical story of the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah, the fleeing of the cities by Lot and his daughters led
by an angel, and the unfortunate fate of Mabel, Lot's wife. Anonymous has
captured perfectly the 13th century's technique of making everybody look
like department store mannequins.
Lot's daughters have apparently gotten over their hissy fit at being offered
by their father to a crowd of Sodomites for a gang rape. They will later
make it up to him by seducing Lot and becoming pregnant by him. We don't see
family values like that today, more's the pity.
The centerpiece of the painting is, of course, Mabel's conversion to sodium
chloride for having looked back at the burning cities, disobeying God's
order not to. God was a strict taskmaster back in those days, and not at all
shy about turning people into elements and compounds for the slightest
infraction.
One recalls the other Genesis story about Noah's fourth son, who, having
asked for the sixth time amid the Deluge if it looked like rain, was changed
into a pillar of beryllium for having made the same corny joke more than
five times running. Or the incident in Exodus when one of Aaron's daughters
pauses to tie her shoelace while being chased through the parted Red Sea by
the Pharaoh and his army. God had specifically prohibited the tying of
shoelaces en route because he felt it spoiled the smooth flow of the crowd
of escaping Israelites. For her impudence she was changed into a cask of
herring.
Getting back to Mabel's predicament, God had specifically warned against
looking back at the burning cities for reasons he did not disclose. Mabel
thought she could get around this command by keeping one eye closed, but God
was not fooled one little bit. Lot, after seeing the aftermath of Mabel's
conversion, did the pragmatic thing and took her along, as salt was a
valuable commodity among the desert tribes.
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Acquired thanks to a generous grant from the ex-Soviet Salt Mine Workers
Lodge and Supper Club of Solikamsk, Russia.
