This is the first of three paintings, the last two of which are 'The Story of Life' and 'The End of Life'. All three depict cut meteorites and show the line pattern present therein. Between the lines in this painting are also seen in silver line pattern planes and some contain babies within the plane as a symbol of the beginning of life.
What is special about these meteorites is that when a cross-section is made through the iron, this produces a beautiful pattern. In iron meteorites this is called a Widmannstätten pattern, after Alois von Widmannstätten. To visualize the Widmannstätten pattern in an iron meteorite, a cross-section must be made through the meteorite, which is then polished and then etched with a mixture of alcohol and nitric acid.
According to some, the meteorites were responsible for the origin of life and for the end of some life forms (dinosaurs).
