Portret van Jean-François Regnard aan een tafel 1793 - 1848

François Jacques Dequevauviller created this portrait of Jean-François Regnard, employing engraving techniques. Notice the globe resting casually on books beside Regnard. This is no mere decorative object. Globes, since antiquity, symbolize worldly knowledge and the human desire to map and understand our place in the cosmos. We can see echoes of this in Renaissance paintings where globes often accompany scholars or rulers, signifying their wisdom and dominion. But let us trace this symbol further back. Consider the ancient Greeks, who used celestial spheres to chart the stars, or the medieval maps that blended geographical reality with mythological imaginings. The globe, in its varied forms, becomes a vessel for projecting our ambitions and fears. The presence of the globe in Regnard’s portrait speaks to the sitter's intellectual curiosity and perhaps, a quiet yearning to transcend earthly limitations. This is an archetypal aspiration that resonates through time, engaging us on a subconscious level with the timeless human quest for knowledge and understanding.