Electric Light Bulb

At the top of the painting is situated a bright electric light bulb that appears to be emmitting the light that illuminates the scene we see before us.

This is not the case... I believe.

The electric light bulb we see here is very bright and would probably disspipate much more light that the oil lamp that is actaully providing the source of illumination for the reasons discussed in that section. So what's this lamp meant to say? So, it's purpose is not to cast light...so if not to cast light, what else could it be?

Electric light bulbs were relatively novel at the time. It was new technology to light one's home and Picasso may have placed both the electric light bulb and the oil lamp to provide a comparisson between the two... before and now. Few had electric light to their homes but I suspect Picasso was wealthy enough to equip himself with this new and useful facility. Much like the new technology and novelty that heralded the prospect of aerial bombing... bombing from flying planes in organised sorties.

It's interesting that the light that is shown emitting from the lamp is so sharp, jagged and almost 'loud'! It's difficult to see in the image above, but there are actually two sets of these jagged rays; one is white, the other is black and situated behind, almost like a shadow...perhaps an 'echo' then.

It's also worth noting that the word for 'bulb' in Spanish is very similar to the Spanish word for 'bomb'. 

These are the bombs that came from up high in the sky as the luftwaffe pilots released their payloads onto the hapless victims below.

The jagged edges make better sense and perhaps explains the repeated 'flash' as a shadow to show its intensity.