Zenon’s Arrow

Depicted in a spectrum of deep blues, Magritte’s piece is surreal and intriguing. A large boulder is seen in the centre of the painting, suspended above a stormy ocean beneath a crescent moon. The background shows large cumulonimbus clouds in the bright blue sky for which Magritte is known. The piece has near-symmetry and a central-focus. The painting is inspired by the theories of Zeno of Elea, a Greek philosopher from the 5^th Century BC. The title of the piece comes from Zeno’s “arrow paradox” which argued that an arrow shot through the air is at once moving and still, when looked at in moment by moment. The scene Magritte has shown similarly shows frozen motion. It is not clear whether the central rock is rising out of the sea, falling into it, or in a perpetual hover, however there is a real sense of stored energy in the piece; we feel that at any moment the bolder will fly or plummet. Blue is often viewed as a colour of dreams, distance, or spirituality, which adds to the ethereal feeling of the work.