Relating to several other etchings made at this time, ‘The Skate God’ shows a skate with a human face which appears to be sitting cross-legged at the centre of the composition. Behind, two naked figures, with skeletal heads rise from the ground. They recall Bellany’s figure paintings of the late 1960s following his visit to Buchenwald concentration camp and can therefore be viewed as figures of death. In titling the work ‘The Skate God’ Bellany is perhaps questioning the role of God as part of his Calvinist upbringing. There is also a distinct sexual content, with the skate’s tail appearing, as in other etchings, as a phallus.