Section 4 Summary (pages 74-111)

While working, Birkin thinks about the work, the painting, and the painter. The original painter had very good technical skills. He also wonders about the man who is plunging into hell and whether the painter knew him. When Moon asks him about the painter, Birkin responds that the work isn't signed, but he does know that the man had light hair, as strands of it turned up in the paint. He was also right handed and probably around six feet tall. The painter had also filled in the whole painting except for the small corner of hell, apparently not trusting his apprentice with the painting. After Moon leaves, Birkin suddenly realizes why the original painter hadn't filled in the bottom section: the painting was the man's last job. Birkin realizes that the man must have fallen from a ladder...