Stairways to Heaven

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

The Afterglow Frederic Edwin Church

“Of the original phenomena, light is the most enthralling.”
- Leonardo da Vinci

Crepuscular rays are those wonderful beams of light we see at the beginning or end of the day which appear to radiate from the single point of the sun and stream through gaps in the clouds or between other objects. Their name comes from the Latin word “crepusculum”, meaning twilight, and refers to their most common occurrences during the hours around dawn and dusk. They have long been sources of inspiration to artists, poets and movie-makers, for they seem to inspire a feeling of hope and wonderment. It is easy to understand why these dramatic shafts of light are also known as Buddha Rays, Stairways to Heaven and God Fingers.

Because crepuscular rays pass through the atmosphere at dawn and dusk, their path takes them through up to forty times as much air as rays from the overhe…