Tristan and Isolde, Act II: Signal in the Night c. 1886

Henri Fantin-Latour created this print, Tristan and Isolde, Act II: Signal in the Night, using etching. Here, Isolde stands with a cloth held aloft, a beacon in the night. The cloth, a simple object, becomes a powerful symbol of longing and clandestine rendezvous. This act of signaling transcends time; think of Ariadne providing Theseus with a thread to escape the labyrinth, or Hero holding a torch for Leander. It's a recurring motif in the human drama of love and desire. The raised cloth, so evocative, carries echoes of ancient rituals. We find it in depictions of victory and surrender across cultures, each act imbued with layers of collective memory. Here, Isolde’s signal taps into our shared understanding of longing, an emotion as old as humanity itself. This image is not just a scene from Wagner; it is a mirror reflecting our innermost desires. It speaks to the timeless human impulse to connect, to reach out, to signal our presence in the darkness.