The hail here is the hail of bombs from the allies that rained onto Darmstadt, Germany, on 11th September 1944. It is estimated that 30,000 civilians died on that night. After the hail, the phoenix rises from the ashes, a resurrection and a new beginning. I have painted this picture of mediaeval cruelty in the manner of mediaeval landscape painting, that is, that I have a light foreground, a green middle and a blue background.