Gezicht op de Bijstandstraat te Brussel 1887

James Ensor crafted this etching of the Bijstandstraat in Brussels, likely around 1888. The composition draws the eye upward toward the elaborate architectural details, particularly the cross-topped dome presiding over the street. The cross, universally a symbol of Christianity, bears a lineage extending far beyond its religious significance, echoing ancient solar symbols found in cultures across time and geography. This iteration, perched atop a secular building, speaks to the intertwined nature of the sacred and the mundane in urban life. Ensor, perhaps unconsciously, channels a collective memory, a cultural inheritance of symbols and forms. Consider how similar motifs appear in reliquaries or processional crosses, each instance a variation in a continuous chain. This cross becomes a point of convergence, a visual echo resonating with layers of historical and psychological weight.