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1921 (printed 1929)

The Spring

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso

Spanish, 1881 - 1973

Three women in classical dress gather around a spring, collecting water. This print alludes to Hippocrene (“Horse’s Fountain”), a spring located on Mount Helicon in Greece where the winged horse Pegasus is said to have stomped his hoof. The mountain was home to the nine Muses of classical mythology, who were revered as sources of inspiration and knowledge. In ancient times, many drank from the Muses’s sacred spring in hope of stimulating poetic thought.

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Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, The Spring, 1921 (printed 1929) | Philadelphia Museum of Art