Symbols

The harlequin, a comedic character usually depicted in checkered patterned clothing, became a personal symbol for Picasso.

During the 1930s, the minotaur replaced the harlequin as a common motif in his work. His use of the minotaur came partly from his contact with the surrealists, who often used it as their symbol, and it appears in Picasso’s Guernica.
Since so often one has assured the Minotaur it is the alter ego of Picasso, the personage who reflects his different states of mind in a period specially complicated of his existence, due to the vicissitudes of his private life.