Fotoreproductie van Vue Générale du Temple d'Or door Jean Baptiste Robie before 1885

This photograph by Alexandre captures Jean Baptiste Robie's "Vue Générale du Temple d'Or." The temple, with its golden facade, stands as a potent symbol of wealth, spirituality, and the divine. The recurring image of temples across cultures, from the ziggurats of ancient Mesopotamia to the cathedrals of Europe, embodies humanity's quest to connect with the sacred. This yearning for transcendence manifests itself in the very architecture, striving to reach the heavens. Consider the evolution of the arch, from its practical use in Roman aqueducts to its symbolic role in Gothic cathedrals, pointing towards the divine. Such architectural motifs echo through time, carrying subconscious associations of power, permanence, and spiritual aspiration. We are drawn to the temple, not merely as a structure, but as a representation of our deepest longings, a stage upon which the drama of human existence unfolds.