Drie ontwerpen voor verticale muurdecoratie c. 1725 - 1750

These three designs for wall decorations were etched by Gabriel Huquier in the 18th century, teeming with symbols that echo through time. Note the central design: a serpent coiled around an open book. The serpent, historically, carries a double meaning – wisdom and temptation, knowledge and deceit. Think of the Garden of Eden, but also Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, whose staff is entwined with a serpent, symbolizing healing and knowledge. The open book, of course, represents learning, enlightenment. The image evokes a tension between the pursuit of knowledge and its potential dangers, a theme that resurfaces in Goethe's Faust. The combination of the serpent and the book is a powerful force, engaging our subconscious with the eternal dilemma of knowledge itself. It’s a motif that doesn’t just fade away; it transforms, adapts, and reappears, shaped by the anxieties and aspirations of each new era.