Angels and demons.

THE SERAPHIM ARE SAID TO PURIFY the world through fire and burnt offering. The word Seraphim is written in the sky at the top of the picture, next to a drawing of what looks like an angel's wing. The snake, symbol of a fallen angel, lies at the bottom of a ladder, as if dropped from the sky to a landscape blackened by fire. The earth in the picture is not prettily painted: Kiefer has used a mixture of oil paint, straw, shellac, and emulsion to create a dense, dark, thick surface. The colors in the painting are somber tones of ochre, brown, black, gray, and white, further darkened by the fact that the artist also set fire to certain areas of the canvas.

Kiefer is German, born at the end of World War II, near the time when a terrible fire rained down on two Japanese cities. His picture is an atonement for a shameful past, an offering to God to forgive us for a world scorched by evil.

PHILIP HARTIGAN, an artist and writer living in Chicago. Image: Seraphim (1983-84) by Anselm Kiefer. Oil, straw, emulsion, and shellac on canvas. Purchased with funds contributed by Mr. and Mrs. Andrew M. Saul, 1984 (84.2316). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City.