Oannès: Moi, la première conscience du chaos, j'ai surgi de l'abîme pour durcir la
matière, pour régler les formes
(Oannès: I, the first consciousness of chaos, arose from the abyss that I might harden matter,
and give law unto forms)
Plate 14 of 24
Oannès was a creature from Mesopotamian mythology, with the head of a man and the body of a fish, who taught knowledge of the arts and sciences to the first humans.
His contemplative, downcast eyes and the light he radiates may symbolise knowledge borne out of the darkness. A sinister, disconcerting impression is created by the dense black and Oannès' only half-lit form.