''The Child's Brain'' ( it, Il cervello del bambino, link=no) is an
oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian artist
Giorgio de Chirico
Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian
artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...
. It was completed in 1914 in Italy and is an example of the
metaphysical art style. The painting measures 80 by 65 centimeters and is now housed at
Moderna Museet
Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö i ...
, Stockholm. The subject of ''The Child's Brain'' is a nude young man, seen from the waist up, who is standing in back of a table with his eyes closed.
Description
The painting depicts a nude young man with a mix of both masculine and feminine features (the feminine being especially prominent in the lack of body hair or defined musculature, the long eyelashes and the finely groomed eyebrows) standing behind a table which blocks our view of him below the waist. On the table is a yellow book with a red bookmark, that has been interpreted as an allegorical representation of male/female intercourse. The man's right arm is hidden from view by a Greek column, connecting this painting to the art of the ancient Greeks, a common theme among de Chirico's work. The man himself is likely a younger version of the figure of
Dionysos
In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
who appears in later works by de Chirico, such as ''The Phantom''.
[
The common interpretation of the painting is that the figure represents de Chirico's father, with the book on the table representing the artists' parent's lovemaking, perhaps witnessed at some point by the young artist.][
In ''The Child's Brain'', the man depicted has his pelvic area covered by a book. This can be interpreted as the man being faced with the terror of castration which can be found in the psychological work of ]Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
. De Chirico was in tune with Freud's studies, reflecting a fascination with psychosexual stages
In Freudian psychology, psychosexual development is a central element of the psychoanalytic sexual drive theory. Freud believed that personality developed through a series of childhood stages in which pleasure seeking energies from the child be ...
, particularly the phallic stage. It is at this time that the male child develops an obsession with his genitals, that leads to the realization of gender difference and a fear of castration.[Stevenson, David B. "Psychosexual Development." Psychosexual Development. Brown University, 1996. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. .]
References
External links
''The Child's Brain'' on the Moderna Museet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Child's Brain, The
1914 paintings
Books in art
Paintings by Giorgio de Chirico
Paintings in the Moderna Museet