#570 L'âge des merveilles

First, the assumption. No, not
that of the Blessed Virgin Mary 
but it is possible that one or other
of the two women depicted here
may be her. Underscored by the 
fact that the one looking out of 
the painting has had her whole 
reproductive area replaced by 

clockwork allows for the pos-
sibility of a birth being brought 
about by a mechanical assembly 
line with no human intervention. 
Then the second assumption, that
both women are the same, down 
to the last cog, even if the other
can't be seen face on, this time a

mirror image, unlike that later 
painting, La Reproduction Interdite. 
& the easel that supports the pain-
ting within the painting shares a
commonality with the clockwork 
of the models but is coming apart.
That it can still support the pain-
ting is a small miracle. That it is

falling to pieces may also presage 
some further deterioration in all
the paricipants in the painting. Ex-
cept for the desert in that painting 
on the easel which is still fresh, 
awaiting the delivery of the fish 
or bird that will eventually be fly-
ing above it in a later incarnation.