Arrows

There is much written about the arrow clearly drawn between the soldier's head and the horses rear legs. It is clearly too placed there on purpose which means that it has a purpose. So what might it's purpose be?

The problem I think people who have studied this painting and who have tried to determine the purpose of this arrow simply follow its trajectory...where they find it takes them to the bulls testicles. Adn in so doing, they deduce, quite rationally that Picasso is perhaps trying to point to the source of the violence...male tostestorone. It's possible of course and it is plausible.

But the possible meaning of the arrow changes dramatically if we consider that there are in fact two arrows! The first is the one we overty see, the second is hidden. It is actually painted as an inverse between the woman's breasts and her dead child.

And the second arrow points directly at the dead child.

Picasso may be saying multiple things here. 

• Look at the woman and then her dead child... This is the result of this attrocity!
• Look at the woman, this is Dora Maar. She is deeply hurt for the children that she cannot have.
• Look at the child, this is Christ.

There is clearly something going on here that is part of a prescribed script. The deep anguish, the dead child and the close proximity of the bull are significant. Again, Picasso gave us no explicit definition and deliberately left it to us to make our own deductions. And that's what we're doing...