The Wounded Angel

The wounded angel in Hugo Simberg's painting holds a small bunch of white snowdrops. They droop toward the dirt road under her stretcher. Snowdrops are the first Finnish flower of spring; they push up through late snow. In folk symbolism they stand for healing and first hope. Simberg painted the two boys carrying the angel through the specific real park of Eläintarha in Helsinki, on a specific real path. That path leads to the Blind Girls' School and the Home for Cripples, two real Helsinki institutions of 1903. The snowdrops are heading to the people who cannot see them. The painting was voted Finland's national painting in 2006. Now at Ateneum, Helsinki @ateneummuseum