It could be argued that every painting Delmotte made, regardless of subject, functions as an allegory. - His paintings that depict the human figure, however, openly draw from deeply familiar stories and concepts that run throughout the history of Western culture: the loves of the Olympian gods, the suffering of Christ, the fear of death, the appeal of sensuality and carnal desires, the elation of physical beauty when juxtaposed with the despair of decay and destruction. He seemingly grafted together the harmonious proportions of classical sculpture with medieval expressions of faith, suffering, and apocalyptic endings. These narratives of the primeval origins of life, ancient mythology, Christianity, and modern society and its potentially wonderful and harmful technological developments are presented in his paintings as a means of understanding the human condition.
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