Atalanta Fugiens · Emblem VIII
Accipe ovum, et igneo percute gladio.
Take the egg and strike it with a fiery sword.
Emblem VIII
The egg holds the whole work in closed form. It does not open by itself; it is opened, with heat and with a cut.
A question to carry
What needs to be opened with care rather than left whole?
Emblem of the day
Michael Maier's Atalanta Fugiens (1618), with the Latin motto, a translation and a reading for each plate.
Engraving in the public domain.