Sleeping Pig 

Here, in this drawing by James Ward, we see a humble pig rendered with surprising tenderness. In Western art, the pig often symbolizes gluttony or uncleanliness, a stark contrast to its revered status in other cultures, such as in ancient Celtic societies where it was associated with abundance and the spiritual realm. Consider how this symbol has transmuted across time. In medieval morality plays, the pig embodied vice; yet, look back to ancient Egypt, and we find the sow, a symbol of nourishment and motherhood, linked to the goddess Nut. There is something deeply primal in how we react to such images. The pig, in its earthly existence, evokes a sense of our own corporeal vulnerabilities and desires, a reflection of our own animalistic nature, stirring complex, often subconscious feelings. Symbols are never fixed. The sleeping pig, innocent and vulnerable, compels us to reconsider our inherited cultural narratives, revealing the cyclical nature of meaning, and how ancient associations can resurface, transformed, in the modern consciousness.