Disembarking the pedestal 1880

This anonymous engraving depicts the symbolic act of disembarking the pedestal. A ship, the Dessoug, dwarfs the pedestal, a potent symbol of the displaced statue. The pedestal evokes the ancient tradition of raising figures of authority and reverence, as seen in classical antiquity. Yet here, it stands empty, its power diminished by the immensity of the ship, a modern symbol of transit and perhaps, transition. One might see an echo of the Tower of Babel, a structure intended to reach the divine, now dwarfed by the ship’s modern industrial might. The act of "disembarking" suggests a reversal, a descent from a position of high regard. Has it fallen from grace? Is it undergoing metamorphosis? The image speaks to the ever-shifting dynamics of power, echoing the eternal cycle of rise and fall, destruction and reconstruction. This motif is not linear but cyclical, reappearing in new guises throughout history.