Illustration til "Hvad skal ungen hedde?" 1883 - 1887

This is Waldemar Bøhme's illustration, made with an unknown medium, depicting chickens amidst a rustic fence. The chicken, seemingly simple, carries a wealth of symbolic weight through time. Across cultures, the chicken oscillates between representing fertility, domesticity, and even vigilance. Consider the cockatrice of medieval lore, a chimera born from a rooster's egg, embodying both life and deadly potential. Even in ancient Greece, the rooster was associated with the god Apollo, a symbol of the sun's daily rebirth. The humble chicken reminds us of the cyclical nature of symbols. These motifs are not fixed; they morph and adapt, resonating with our deepest fears and aspirations. Bøhme's chickens evoke a sense of pastoral innocence, yet their connection to ancient and varied myths reminds us that even the most familiar images can harbor a complex web of cultural meanings, shifting and reforming across the ages.