Pick-A-Back 1835

John Doyle's pencil and graphite drawing presents us with a seemingly simple scene: one man giving another a piggyback ride. This gesture, seemingly universal, carries echoes from antiquity. Consider the ancient myths of Europa and Zeus, where the god, disguised as a bull, carries the maiden across the sea. The act of carrying another on one's back becomes symbolic, charged with motifs of power, dependence, and even transformation. In the visual language, it implies a burden, willingly or unwillingly accepted. This seemingly innocent image hints at something deeper—perhaps a commentary on societal hierarchies. The carried man is dependent and infantilized, while the carrier bears a weight both physical and symbolic. We see this visual echo in Renaissance depictions of Saint Christopher, who unknowingly carried the Christ Child, and with him, the weight of the world. The gesture resurfaces across centuries, evolving, yet always tethered to its primal roots.