Reflections on a Painting of the Brain

An ekphrastic commentary in four parts

A good painting speaks to us, addresses us in the language of forms and color, calling out from the canvas in a thousand proverbial words. Meeting our gaze, it invites us into its world, captivating and dreamlike — a world that bewilders, inspires, and transforms us.

A happy coincidence led me to the paining you see above. I was at a coffeeshop, studying for an exam for my college neuroanatomy class. In a moment of exasperation, I looked up from my copy of Nolte’s The Human Brain, and my eyes fell directly on this painting. When I found out it was for sale, I knew I had to have it.

This painting speaks mysteries to me. It hangs above my desk now, and many hours have been spent trying to decipher its meaning. Here are some things it’s told me.

Use your noodle

On first impression, this paitning appears to be the visualization of an idiom. The human brain, wet and slimy as it is, can be referred to in English as a noodle. Here we see it depicted as just that: a collection of multicolored bits of pasta, stuffed into the bowl we call our cranium.

But not just any pasta: we find that our brain-stuff is composed of alphabet soup. A fitting choice, given that what structures our mental…