The visual form of the second painting from the first movement can be described as "equal plane/independent motion". This means that there is no overlapping of image areas, and that each zone has its own fracturing pattern. The image of the church tower is vertical.(Fig 1, Fig 2, Fig3,) Therefore the two pages of musical score were not placed side by side but rather one on top of the other, so that the top of the tower occupies the first half of the painting and the bottom occupies the second half. (Fig 4)

The basic theme in the first violins is portrayed by the architecture. Glazing values move according to the second violins. (Fig 9)When the theme is picked up by the winds the Alps also pick it up. This is expressed by a linear glaze, interrupting what otherwise is a purely harmonic glaze. Whereas a linear glaze becomes lighter and darker in imitation of a melody line, a harmonic glaze remains a steady, light, unchangeable value, with only its hue moving to harmonic orders or its relative greyness reflecting changing harmonic qualities. In the 13th measure of the painting the inverted thematic material in the cello and double-bass lines is given to St. Florian imagery, with the Alpine image embodying the 7th and 8th horns. The horns also determine the meeting point between two image zones. The linear glaze follows horns 5 and 6 until the 19th measure where it becomes harmonic, afterwards ending on a linear glaze again for horns 1 and 2. The Alps remain with horns 7 and 8, relating also to bassoons 1 and 2 until they end in the 19th measure, replaced by a solid rest color. The violins continue to determine the boundary line until its end, and St. Florian's fractures to the cello and double-bass line through the end of the painting, or measure 72, for a total of 22 measures.

(Fig 6)Because the second theme starts on piano, it begins in the clouds above and around the church towers. (Fig 7)The image moves into the architecture itself as it gets louder. This is a different way of dealing visually with increasing loudness than that developed in later paintings. In the later works the approach has depended on a mathematically controlled change of scale. The earlier Bruckner paintings, afterall, did not have a fully developed system; such a system has evolved over the none years of working on the Symphony.

(Fig5)The second theme begins and ends in G major, or purple. In between these two points, however, there is a large amount of chromatic activity. It is as if we are being prepared for the alternating diatonic and chromatic scales which move by step around the whole color wheel in the third theme. But, in the second theme, the painting moves quickly from purple to yellow-green, to green, to orange, to blue, to purple, to blue, to green, to yellow, to red, to blue-green, to green, to violet, with just a spot of very grey green, and then ends on purple. The glazes are not as vivid as it may sound, as many of these places are the result of borrowed chords, diminished 7 chords, or even a German sixth. In other words, there are a lot of 50%, 40% and 30% complementary color inclusions.