Macha was a goddess with two hearts: her own and the one of a horse. She was married to a widower, Crunniuc. She can run very fast, and her husband brags at the king Conchobor’s court that she could outrun the king’s horses. The king orders pregnant Macha to run, even though she pleads with him to postpone the race. She wins, but the run brings forth the birth of her twins and her death. In this painting, although Macha is the figure in the foreground, her husband’s feelings of guilt take dominance and are being brought forward from the background. Macha knows she is going to die, her skin lacks colour and she is resigning herself to the imminent events. The knocked down pot symbolises a broken family.
