Boy with an Egg, Girl with a Hen, and a Watching Woman 1682 - 1754

This drawing by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, held at the Metropolitan Museum, features a boy holding an egg, a girl with a hen, and a watching woman; each figure embodies a different facet of life and observation. Eggs and hens carry rich symbolism, deeply entwined with ideas of fertility, birth, and the cyclical nature of life. In ancient cultures, the egg was a potent symbol of creation and potential. Consider the Orphic egg, from which hatched the primordial deity Phanes, embodying the birth of the cosmos. The hen, as a mother, represents nurturing and protection. These symbols echo in countless artistic and cultural expressions. The egg's continuous presence in art across millennia speaks to its enduring power to evoke fundamental aspects of human existence. The image stirs a recognition deep within us, a connection to ancestral memories of life's beginnings and the promise of renewal.