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Anselm Kiefer b. 1945 Athanor titled oil, sand, ash, gold leaf and lead foil on canvas 111 by 150 1/4 in. 281.9 by 381.6 cm. Executed in 1991. Athanor is a wonderful example of Anselm Kiefer's continued exploration into Germany's past, and the vicissitudes of history and memory. This monumental work must be seen as one of the artist's most ambitious paintings, and in its power of presentation, its depth of meaning and its accomplished technique, Athanor remains one of Kiefer's most charged and concise commentaries on the meaning of matter and the matter of meaning. Anselm Kiefer's powerfully charged art confronts the viewer on many levels. In his depiction of loaded sites and spaces, whether buildings associated with Nazi Germany or ephemeral landscapes connected to Nordic mythology, what impresses the viewer at once is the sheer scale, of both object and gesture made by the artist. Kiefer's work is firmly rooted to a German tradition of art making: he has, like his German predecessors Durer and Kirchner (for example) made a number of woodcuts as well as books. Kiefer's art is, however, one that tackles not only the Teutonic form of expression, here amplified on a grand scale, but also engages with, and fuses together, various strands of memory and meaning that create the tapestry of German heritage. This heritage is seen through Kiefer's bold and honest glass, and thus he openly makes commentary about Germany in the 1930s, and the sociopolitical climate of that time. At the same time, he weaves together these political issues with myths and stories from Nordic tradition, finding parallels and mutual metaphors in terms of battles, wars, struggle and freedom. Kiefer has made a number of works entitled Athanor and their iconography vary according to the emphasis Kiefer wishes to make with his subject. Considering an earlier version, in juxtaposition, serves to illuminate the dynamics operating within the structure of the present work. The 1983-84 version differs fro