Description:This dramatic frontispiece to the fourth issue of 'The Southern Cross' (the Edgbaston military hospital magazine) is entitled simply ‘War’. It is the third in a series of visionary works by Staff Sergeant W.L. Sherwood, whose art is immediately challenging and produces a complex response to conflict, survival and death.
The picture balances opposite motifs of light and dark to represent good and evil against the background of the Edgbaston military hospital; if you imagine the buildings only then the picture would join the other more realistic views of the University drawn by Sherwood, which appear in other issues of the journal. Here however, the scene is symbolic and apocalyptic with the buildings not standing on level ground but on the curve of the globe, so that the picture addresses the fate of the whole world in crisis.
The figure in the foreground, although blindfolded, looks more feminine than masculine with the shoulders bare revealing a clear hint of the outlines of female breasts. In her right hand she holds scales, indicating that the outcome of this conflict lies in the balance and cannot be predicted, while in her left hand she holds a sprig of laurel, the symbol of peace. She is shown against a bright white circle, whilst ominously behind and to the left, where the dark powers of evil are massing, is a second black circle. Dominating the skies above are two symbolic figures. On the left is an ugly figure flying on black wings, representing infernal power, whilst on the right is a beautiful youth holding evil at bay with a blazing shield, a circle of light bursting around him; this is a clear visual reference to the white naked figure in William Blake’s The Dance of Albion (also known as Glad Day), associating the figure with a symbol of ancient Britain. The flowing waves of his blonde hair have the same texture as both that of the female in the foreground and with the laurel, providing a triangular visual identification. In the top left of the picture a swan approaches with the powers of darkness; a likely interpretation of this is that it refers to the myth of Leda and the swan in which Zeus disguises himself as a swan in order to seduce and rape Leda. On the right in front of the youth is the Chamberlain Tower, here symbolically imbued with stability and authority, a potent symbol of civilisation resisting malevolent assault.
<small>Illustration from The “Southern” Cross, vol.1 no.4</small>