Biddende Heilige Geneviève met kind en hert c. 1575 - 1600

Philips Galle created this engraving of Saint Genevieve with child and deer in the late 16th century. Notice the prominent image of the deer. In Christian iconography, the deer is often seen as a symbol of religious devotion and of God's providence, due to the belief that deer can find medicinal herbs when wounded, similar to a soul seeking healing through faith. The deer, moreover, draws connections to the classical myth of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt, wilderness, wild animals, and the Moon. Artemis's association with nature and childbirth was eventually absorbed into the iconography of certain Christian saints. This instance reflects the long tradition in which symbols from one cultural context migrate and acquire new meanings in different eras. It echoes the cyclical progression of cultural memory that often ties together seemingly unrelated strands of human experience.