Frescoes on the west wall (Salon du Roi, Palais Bourbon, Paris) 1837

Here, in the Salon du Roi of the Palais Bourbon, Delacroix captured scenes of antiquity in this fresco. Observe the figures of the gods along the wall, each laden with symbols. On the left stands Diana, goddess of the hunt, forever young, with her bow and arrow; and on the right we see a bearded river god. These figures are not merely representations but echoes. Diana, the huntress, finds her kin in archaic fertility goddesses, her bow a transformed symbol of power. The river god, with his flowing beard and commanding presence, resonates with ancient Near Eastern depictions of rivers as sources of life and civilization, a motif that resurfaces in countless forms across time. Consider how these images, once imbued with divine power, now adorn the halls of governance. They are not static relics but living memories, shaped by our collective consciousness, reappearing through history, each time imbued with new meaning.