This painting was inspired by a visit to a very special and strange place, Museo Zoologico La Specola, a museum of scientific interest and oddities in Florence, Italy. La Specola is filled with 17th century wonders including wax human anatomical figures, opened up like treasure boxes, which were used by surgeons to understand the interior human body. The museum also houses specimens of a large variety of animals, and a display of something called Uova Anomale de Gallina, the words scratched into the background, or, in English, Strange Hen Eggs.
This beautiful wood and glass display case, also from the 17th or 18th century, housed a selection of very weirdly formed eggs, which got me thinking about the weird twists and turns that can occur in the DNA matrix and how we are bound to the genetics our ancestors grant to us.
Strange DNA (or Anomalous Eggs, as you prefer) is 24″ x 30″ – oil on deep canvas- is framed in a simple oiled pine float frame, and is available for viewing and purchase. Contact me.
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