The painting, Metamorphosis, portrays the end of the growth cycle for the caterpillar. The hungry caterpillar who hatched from an egg, consumes many times its own weight in a single day. One day, the caterpillar stops eating and chooses a branch on a tree and hangs upside down. There, its skin molts off leaving a glistening chrysalis. Inside this hard-shelled pupa, the old caterpillar identity starts breaking down and the caterpillar digests itself. “Imaginal cells” of the butterfly-to-be develop and cluster together, overwhelming the collapsing caterpillar body, feeding on its remains as nutritive soup. An original creature forms inside the chrysalis, with an entirely new nervous system, digestive system, eyes, heart, legs, wings... all the features of an adult butterfly. The butterfly then chews and squeezes its way out of its protective shell in order to force fluids from its thorax into its wings. Without this final struggle the butterfly cannot survive. The butterfly’s miraculous metamorphosis and powerful will to emerge into the light has come to symbolize the transformative journey of the soul.