Reproductie van Le Ravin door Gustave Doré c. 1874 - 1879

Charles Michelez reproduced this image of ‘Le Ravin’ after Gustave Doré. The dramatic landscape, with its steep cliffs and dense forest, evokes the sublime—a concept deeply rooted in the Romantic era. The ravine, a deep, narrow gorge, speaks to nature's capacity to inspire awe and terror. We find a similar sentiment in Caspar David Friedrich's landscapes, where solitary figures are dwarfed by the immensity of nature, instilling a sense of existential contemplation. This motif of the overwhelming natural world recurs throughout art history. Think of the use of grottoes in Renaissance art, which served as places for spiritual transformation. There is a powerful psychological dimension to the image of the ravine. It can represent the subconscious, a dark, mysterious place where repressed desires and fears reside. This resonates with the human psyche, tapping into primal emotions of fear, isolation, and the search for meaning in an indifferent universe. Like a recurring dream, the ravine resurfaces across eras, a testament to our enduring fascination with the sublime and the depths of the human soul.