First Day of Creation: Separation of Light and Darkness

A radiant male figure personifying Light springs forward while a dark female figure representing Night retreats into shadow, holding a star-flecked cloak. A central winged spirit mediates the scene, using two sceptres to divide the light from the dark within a circular composition. The dynamic, muscular forms and high contrast emphasize the dramatic transition from chaos to cosmic order.

This work visualizes the 'Fiat Lux' from Genesis, a moment central to Hermetic and Neoplatonic cosmogonies regarding the emanation of the Divine Mind into the material world. It reflects the 16th-century intellectual preoccupation with the 'Hexameron' and the elemental division of the universe into opposing but balanced forces.