Masters of Puzzle - Aurora Borealis by F. E. Church

This is the fourth and last puzzle box in the puzzle collection based on the classical painter Frederic Edwin Church*. Aurora Borealis is an 1865 painting based on two separate sketches. The first incident was an aurora witnessed by Church's pupil, the Arctic explorer Isaac I. Hayes. Hayes provided a sketch and description of the aurora borealis display he witnessed one January evening. Coinciding with Hayes' furthest northern movement into what he named Cape Leiber, the aurora borealis appeared over the peak.

The iconography of the painting suggested personal and nationalistic references. The peak in the painting had been named after Church during Hayes's expedition. Aurora Borealis incorporated details of Hayes' ship, drawn from a sketch he brought back upon returning from his expedition. Contrasted with the Church's earlier painting of the north, The Icebergs (1861), the intact ship highlights Hayes' achievement in navigating this space, as well as the state of the nation in navigating the contentious historical moment. Presenting the ship's safe passage through the dark Arctic environment, Church suggested optimism for the future; a tiny light shines out from the ship's window.

Content Details

Contains one new puzzle box for Masters of Puzzle. The UHD image captures the original painting in great detail which in turn allows for very detailed and diverse puzzle tiles. The overall dark palette of the image will result in similar and hard to pick apart puzzle tiles. There are very few areas that can act as anchors to start the puzzle and these will be difficult to assemble. The mountain-top can be one of them, and the red and blue auroras another. All in all, this puzzle box will represent a significant challenge for most puzzle builders.


* Note: The painting used in this DLC is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less.