Archimedes and His Gift of Water 11" by 14"
Archimedes possessed so high a spirit, was so profound a soul, and such a
treasure of scientific knowledge, that though his inventions has
obtained the renown of more than human sagacity.
Through the medium of geometry, he was able to elucidate the principles
for such basic devices as the pulley, the fulcrum and the lever
Among his many inventions were:
Burning mirrors with which he burned and sank enemy ships from a distance.
Water screws- a pulley system that pulled water upward for distribution now called the Archimedes Screw
One story recounts how a perplexed King Hiero was unable to empty
rainwater from the hull of one of his ships. The King called upon
Archimedes for assistance. Archimedes' solution was to create a machine
consisting of a hollow tube containing a spiral that could be turned by a
handle at one end. When the lower end of the tube was placed into the
hull and the handle turned, water was carried up the tube and out of the
boat.
The Archimedes Screw is still used as a method of irrigation in
developing countries.
An aside as all my paintings are not intended when I went to title this painting the word Archimedes popped into my head and I looked it up and lo and behold found all this information.
I took the brown blob on the left of the painting to be a boulder but the unusual part is the next morning I had the urge to paint thin yellow lines exactly like the ones pictured on the ball in the photo above even though I had not laid eyes on this photo up until then . I have not done it yet and I wonder if perhaps the brown ball is also a play on the head of Archimedes. I am letting the painting sit a bit before I decide.
I take the brown stick like thing in the bottom middle of the painting to be a combination of the lever he invented but also representing a sinking enemy ship.
The brown figures on top of it souls.
And the parrot to be representative of the tropics with it's abundance of water.
