As the global plague forces families together for weeks on end and universities to close their doors and give way to online education, I have had several heated arguments with both my family and myself about my future in my field of study, which is medicine. This piece is supposed to show the physician in all their faults and wrongdoings.
A lot of thought went into the imagery in this piece, which I’ve listed below:
Most obviously, the figure is part goat. In ancient and medieval times, the goat represented evil, or the devil himself, with satanic figures often being shown as part goat. This plays into the choice of a goat for this figure, but it is more derived from the (in my mind) primary characteristic of goats: stubbornness. Goats, as well as bad physicians, are extremely stubborn and do not easily listen.
The figure is richly decorated with gold jewelry. Greed is a common fault in physicians, mainly in countries where they are still paid extremely high amount of money. Notable is that both ring fingers are bare, as rings on these commonly signify devotion and faithfulness, which the bad physician lacks.
The gesture of the right hand of the figure is one typically made in historical depictions by Jesus Christ and other saints, which signifies the name of Jesus. The figure holds this gesture downwards, which defies that which is holy. This signifies the defiance of that which a physician is supposed to belief, not the defiance of Christianity.
The figure holds a drinking cup with no bottle in sight, signifying that medicines and their ingredients are unknown to the physician, who has forgotten the basis of their education.
The physician’s stethoscope, which is normally worn around the neck, lays on the ground. This signifies a lack of willingness to listen to patients.
The fruit bowl on top of the furnace is filled with apples and figs: both are commonly used to represent the fruit of the forbidden tree in the bible.
The peach symbolizes virtue and honor; however a half-eaten peach symbolizes a person who has tarnished their reputation with immoral behavior.
The furnace wood has been supplemented by Gladiolus flowers, more commonly known as Sword-Lilies. These flowers represent strength of character and integrity, and their purple color represents moral virtue. The burning of these flowers signifies the active refusal of these virtues by the figure.
The figure’s horns are broken, symbolizing that they have made many a mistake, yet by the presence of all the other factors, it is clear that they have not learned.
The title of the piece (Ram-Headed Son) is a reference to “Table Song“ by Katie Kuffel, in which she refers to the biblical figure Cain as the ram-headed son. I have no knowledge about the meaning of this name, it just came to mind while I was working on this piece.
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Bonus: I used a quick GIF-maker to make a little flickering-fire gif of the piece:
