Girl Kindling a Stove 1883

Edvard Munch captured this intimate scene of a girl kindling a stove in oil paint, a moment frozen in time. The girl is hunkered down, almost fetal, next to the stove, in an act of primal domesticity: starting a fire. Fire and hearth are ancient symbols. In antiquity, Vesta, the Roman goddess of the hearth, and Hestia in Greek mythology, were central to family and state. Fire, a symbol of warmth, life, and transformation, but also of destruction, has long held both literal and metaphorical significance. We find echoes of this in countless traditions where fire purifies and protects. The girl's concentrated pose recalls similar depictions of laborers from Courbet to Millet, yet Munch imbues it with a quiet, psychological depth. We can trace this flame, from the hearths of ancient Rome to modern anxieties, always transforming, always burning.