Lining the curved walls of the Jewish Chapel at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs is a series of nine biblical paintings by Polish Israeli artist Shlomo Katz, commissioned by the Falcon Foundation in 1985. Elijah Went Up by a Whirlwind into Heaven is one of three Katz made on the theme of ‘flight’, a subtle nod to the aerospace branch of military service of the cadets who worship in this sacred space.

The painting should be read clockwise from the bottom right, following the dynamic movement from earthbound thistle patch to open sky and beyond. Elisha, dressed in blue and wearing a kippah, stands with one foot on the ground and the other raised in rapture, his left hand reaching out for his master Elijah’s mantle. Though it would have been a heavier garment that was probably made of sheepskin, Katz renders the mantle as a translucent red swathe of material that spirals around Elijah’s body, accentuating his graceful, balletic form. He is weightless, no longer subject to gravity, it seems, as he twists toward the wispy tongues of flame that form the shape of two galloping horses with a cloaked rider—a celestial cavalry. Flying like a dancer on some grand stage, he who was wrapped in God’s authority now sheds that symbolic wrapping, transferring it to his successor. That the mantle matches the colour of the chariot underscores its divine power.

All this takes place over the desert hills of Israel, with the Jordan flowing through them. In the middle right background is a hill with terraced fields and houses representing Jericho, the last city to which Elijah and Elisha travelled together. The perspective is nonlinear, emphasizing the spiritual dimension of the narrative. Persian, Turkish, and Indian miniature painting as well as Byzantine icons are among Katz’s aesthetic influences.

Katz has captured here that propulsive moment when God’s prophet enters eternity, passing his mantle on to the next generation.

References

Katz, Shlomo. 1993. The Way of an Eagle in the Air: The Paintings of Shlomo Katz at the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel (San Anselmo: Stuart Allen Books)