The Tower of Babel

Author: Sofía Bassi

Title: La Torre de Babel, ELC [En la Cárcel] (The Tower of Babel [In Jail])

Date: 1968

Material: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 31.5 × 39.4 inches

Location: Private collection

Rights: Sofía Bassi Foundation

The Tower of Babel reinterprets the legendary structure as a floating, otherworldly edifice suspended in an enigmatic, dreamlike landscape. Encased within a glowing golden sphere, the tower emerges from swirling, fluid matter, as if in the process of creation or destruction. The spiraling architecture, reminiscent of mythological and esoteric symbols of ascension, embodies the human quest for divine knowledge—an ambition both exalted and doomed.

Bassi’s characteristic use of deep greens and golden hues lends the painting an ethereal, almost apocalyptic atmosphere. The surrounding sky, turbulent and enigmatic, suggests a cosmic event unfolding, reinforcing the theme of hubris and divine retribution. In the distance, a solitary, jagged spire punctuates the horizon, a spectral remnant or an echo of the tower’s fate.

Through her surrealist and esoteric lens, Bassi transforms the biblical tale into a meditation on transcendence and impermanence. The tower, a paradox of ambition and fragility, stands as a visual metaphor for the human condition—forever reaching beyond its limits, forever on the brink of collapse.