The painting depicts a swimming pool surrounded by buildings. The sense of dimension is unclear. The features of the buildings appear to be hand-drawn. The buildings leave shadows against the sky like a wall. Hanging in the sky is a clock that reflects on the water as a moon. In the pool, the picture shows a possibly female or childish body in an upside-down position with only the waist and legs above the water level. The person appears to be diving or is drowning. In the foreground is an armless statue-like figure that appears to have been made out of clay, throwing a shadow in the direction of the pool, similar to another shadow originating from outside the picture. The person looks away from the pool and bears a handlebar mustache resembling that of Ernst's father, but also has features which could be interpreted as female.
The painting carries the same name as a famous novella Aquis submersus [de] by Theodor Storm, published in 1876, which influenced Ernst creating his painting.[1]
References
^ abcErnst, Max (25 December 1909). "Aquis submersus". Digitale Sammlung (in German). Retrieved 12 January 2023.
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