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Eggstraordinary Art

Universal Images Group

By Francesca Lungarotti

The egg is an element we find represented in archaeology, fine art and architecture since the origins of humanity. It is its animal, human and ancestral nature combined with many symbolic meanings that makes the egg an object of interest.

For Piero della Francesca in the Masterpiece ‘Pala di Brera’ the ostrich egg hanging from the ceiling symbolizes the Virgin and her miraculous pregnancy (since it was once believed that ostriches were capable of fertilizing themselves).

Art, Italian Renaissance art, Piero della Francesca, 1416-17 – 1492, title of the work, ‘Pala di Brera or Pala di Montefeltro’, 1472 – 1474. Credit: Molteni Motta/Universal Images Group

For the Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali, the egg plays a hopeful role, often coming to symbolise new beginnings or purity amidst the surrounding chaos.

Dali Museum. Cornice. Decorative elements. Figueres. Catalonia, Spain. Credit: Prisma/Universal Images Group
Dali’s house in Port Lligat. Egg on the dovecot.Costa Brava. Girona province. Catalonia, Spain. Credit: VW Pics/Universal Images Group
Dali’s Theatre Museum. Torre Galatea . Figueres.Girona province. Catalonia, Spain. Credit: VW Pics/Universal Images Group
Facade of the Dali Museum Theatre containing Salvador Dali’s surrealist creations. Credit: Sergi Reboredo/VWPics/Universal Images Group

The ‘Concert in the Egg’ believed to be by a follower of Hieronymus Bosch from the 16th century depicts a group of decidedly picturesque characters making music inside what appears to be a “philosopher’s egg”, used by alchemists for the transmutation of matter.

The concert in the egg, (follower of Hieronymus Bosch). Credit: G Dagli Orti/DeAgostini/Universal Images Group

In a simpler and more immediate way, Pieter Aertsen’s ‘Egg Dance’ welcomes spring at a folk festival: will the peasant woman in the apron manage to kick the egg into the bowl without breaking it?

The Egg Dance, Pieter Aertsen, 1552. Credit: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group

As you gather on Easter Sunday for your annual egg hunts, why not share some of these eggstraordinary examples of eggs in art?

Still life with copper kettle, cheese and eggs, Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin, circa 1730 – 1735. Credit: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group
The Virgin in the Egg, circa 1650, Spanish, 17th century, Paintings. Artist unknown. Credit: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group
Broken Eggs, 1756 Artist: Jean-Baptiste Greuze. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group
The Egg Seller, Hendrick Bloemaert, 1632. Credit: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group
Still Life with Ham, Eggs and Bread, Melendez, Luis Eugenio, 1772. Credit: PicturesNow/Universal Images Group
Diego Velazquez (1599-1660). Old Woman Cooking Eggs, 1618. Credit: Prisma/Universal Images Group
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Sources: 

Artdependence “Symbolism in Art: The Egg”; June 5, 2017; by Kitty Jackson –

https://www.artdependence.com/articles/symbolism-in-art-the-egg/#:~:text=The%20egg%20has%20always%20held,and%20the%20circle%20of%20life.

Artesvelata “The Brera Alterpiece”; April 23, 2020; by Giuseppe Nifosi –

La Pala di Brera di Piero della Francesca – Arte Svelata

Arte.it “L’Uovo E L’Arte”; July 4, 2020; by Francesca Grego –

https://www.arte.it/notizie/italia/l-uovo-e-l-arte-un-amore-a-sorpresa-17103

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