Liggende geit met lam c. 1657 - 1811

This undated etching shows a goat reclining with a young lamb standing behind her. Here, the goat and lamb are symbols of pastoral life, and, more significantly, they speak to themes of sacrifice and nurturing that have been central to the cultural imagination for millennia. The maternal bond represented here echoes in countless images across time and cultures. Think of the Virgin Mary cradling the infant Christ, a symbol of divine love made human. In ancient Greek mythology, we find the goat Amalthea, who nurtured the infant Zeus. These images are not isolated; they are part of a collective memory that resurfaces in various guises. The goat, often associated with fertility and vitality, later became entangled with perceptions of the demonic, a stark example of how symbols evolve, their meanings shaped by cultural shifts and psychological projections. This image of a resting goat and its offspring is more than a mere pastoral scene; it stirs something deep within us, linking us to ancient archetypes of care, sacrifice, and the cyclical nature of life.