Salvador Dali: The Labyrinth

The labyrinth represents the alchemist's dangerous and difficult journey; it is a place of confusion that requires mental stamina and careful decisions. Alchemists referred to their work as a labyrinth, and the image frequently appears in alchemical texts. Alchemists believed that the only way to make it through the labyrinth was with divine inspiration and guidance from God. 

Dalí's labyrinth is formed of multi-colored lines, leading to the alchemical hermaphrodite in the center. The hermaphrodite symbolizes the perfect being; it is the anthropomorphized version of the Philosopher's Stone. Because the main components of the alchemical process are represented as the King and Queen, the result of their union and thus the completion of the alchemical process is also human. The hermaphrodite/Philosopher's Stone is in the center of the labyrinth because it is the ultimate reward for an alchemist who can conquer the 'labyrinth' of alchemy. Other figures inhabit the labyrinth, symbolizing obstacles for the alchemist along the way. One figure, the bearded snake with human breasts emerging from a doorway, is particularly mystical and enigmatic. Bearded snakes exist in a number of cultures as symbols of protection and guidance. However, this figure is a serpent with a female upper body, which is interpreted as an allegory of Deceit in the Renaissance. As an embodiment of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, this figure could represent temptation for the alchemist to stray from his task. Further, a figure in Greek mythology has a snake body and female head, Lamia, who is a child-eating monster. Dalí likely combined a number of these traditions to create a creature of his own invention.