Lambert Collection, Belgium
Galerie Isy Brachot, Brussels (acquired before 1974)
Acquired from the above by the present owner

The present work is closely related to Magritte’s Le Carrousel d’Esclarmonde of the same date, which is nearly its mirror image (see: David Sylvester, op. cit. no. 788).  In a letter dated 9^th December 1952, Magritte wrote: “Ci-contre image d’un chandelier brisé devant une tache d’ombre à côté d’un chandelier entier éclairant’ (quoted in ibid., p. 206).

The title of this painting was probably taken from the sto꧃ry Melusine by the Belgian writer Franz Hellens, which was first published in 1921, and reprinted in 1953, the year this present work was executed. Melusine is a fantastic story which combines medieval miracles with the miracles of modern science.  In this social parody, realistic events are exaggerated and distorted in such a way to question the scientific postulates.  Such fantastic imagery, presenting miraculous phenomena and poetic appearances rather than firm reality, certainly appealed to Magritte’s imagination, and provided inspiration for the present work, in which the soft candlestick is bending under the heat while the lit candle appears firm and intact.

Fig 1. Rene Magritte, Le Carrousel d'Esclarmonde, 1953