I found this painting commentary Facebook. “From the painting, we will find here a person trying to save his father, and completely ignoring his wife and son, who are closer to him, and the lightest weight among them is that he saves him! The mother represents life and the son is the future, but the grandfather represents the past that the man obviously clings to and therefore loses his life and future!”
While, I am familiar with what google says the “meaning” is bout past present future……I imagine the conversation could’ve gone in his mind when Joseph was painting it. “Please save your father”, she screamed. He replied, “do you have the branch and the baby”. “Yes!” she said sobbing with fear, “help your father. I can hold onto the branch and the baby for a bit longer.”
A percentage of the population and many in the comment assume the man is neglecting the woman and child when she could have asked the man to save someone else first. Making sure, he took her at her word, and used a portion of his brute his strength to try to save the man because she was confident in her strength….”I got the branch and the baby.” It’s almost patriarchal to automatically assume the woman is weak. In their compassionate commentary, this almost seems lost.
In reality, seeing the man almost drown would cause her to have greater compassion. The man still is pulled in multiple directions and will need to use his strength to save them all, and compassion to not let that old man die because he is useless.
I see a balance between past Present and future which is a more esoteric meaning that could be revealed to some.
