Title of Artwork: “The Ninth Wave”
Artwork by Ivan Aivazovsky
Year Created 1850
Summary of The Ninth Wave
Ivan Aivazovsky, a Russian Armenian marine painter, painted The Ninth Wave (евт вaл, Dyevyatiy val) in 1850. It’s his most well-known piece.
After a series of progressively larger waves, the phrase in the title alludes to a wave of incredible size.
People clinging to debris from a shipwrecked vessel after a nighttime storm are depicted here. The cross-shaped debris appears to be a Christian allegory for deliverance from a life of earthly transgressions. In the painting, the sea appears less threatening due to its warm tones, making it more likely that the people will survive. This painting depicts both the beauty and the destruction of nature.
Information Citations
En.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/.