Have you ever noticed that whenever a brother marries his sister, bad things happen?

Take the Egyptian god Osiris. He married his sister Isis, was made King of Mankind, and then became the target of his brother Set’s jealousy. Set dismembered Osiris and scattered the pieces of his body all over Egypt. Isis was distraught and sought to save her husband, so she scoured the country to find the pieces of her husband’s body. She found each part and bound them together, creating the first mummy, and bringing Osiris back to life to rule as the King of the Dead.

This story is the theme behind the “Osiris Paintings” of artist Anthony Apesos, on display in the Gallery of the Newton Free Library. This collection of 16 paintings can be neatly divided into three categories based on the thematic content and color palate used in each. Essentially, the categories correspond with the three main stages of Osiris’ legend.

Paintings depicting Osiris’ corpse serve as the first subcategory of the exhibit.These paintings are distinguished by their uniformly dark color scheme, dominated by shadows and feelings of despair and hopelessness. Most are portraits of Isis grieving over Osiris’ body, or over his skull alone. The color scheme complements the combination of mourning and anger inherent in this theme. The backgrounds of these paintings are black skies shot through with angry red accents. The skin tones of the figures are also darker than those in depicted in the other works displayed, created from a mixture of reds, grays and greens. This combination of colors creates an impressive depiction of death’s pallor in “Too Heavy.”

The second category of paintings in this exhibit depict Isis searching the countryside for the missing parts of her dead husband. These paintings are predominantly landscapes, into which Isis’ ghostly figure is placed. The paintings in this group are characterized by a drastic departure from the dusky colors seen in the paintings of Osiris’ death. Here we see a pastel color palate, best displayed in “Isis: The Paths Met.” This painting mixes a variety of vivid green shades that contrast with heavy blacks and browns to create a shadowy sylvan grove.

In this group of works we also see Apesos experimenting with the formation of his paintings. “Isis Searches” is a series of four smaller paintings which focus on a dismembered leg overlooking the seashore where Isis gathers bits of the body. This composition of one work from several smaller pieces, seen again in “The Hands of Isis,” corresponds well to the overarching theme of the exhibition.

The final group of paintings concentrates on the “re-membering” of Osiris by Isis. Bright yellow and brilliant blue hues are employed, but a tendency toward pastel tones remains, reminiscent of the previous category of paintings. However, it is apparent that Apesos chose to depict the reincarnation of Osiris through the use of lively colors.