Edited by: Maurizio Zuccotti, Carlo A. Redi and Silvia Garagna
La Folie des Grandeurs [Megalomania or Delusions of Grandeur] (1962) painted by the Belgian surrealist René F.G. Magritte (1898-1967), is suggestive of the theory of ovist preformationism which held that unborn offspring existed fully formed in the eggs of its mother prior to conception. This idea was heralded by Antonio Vallisnieri (1661-1730), who even believed that in the ovary of the first woman, the entire human race in miniature was present from the beginning. In addition, Magritte’s painting is also reminiscent of the phenomenon of parthenogenesis, embryo development from an unfertilized egg, which is the biopathological origin of ovarian teratoma tumors. Oil on canvas. 100.4 x 81.3 cm. Access # 78-145 E. Photographer: Hickey-Robertson, Houston, TX, USA. Reproduced with kind permission from The Menil Collection, Houston TX, USA.
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