Nederlaag van het Ottomaanse leger tijdens het Beleg van Wenen 1686

Gaspar Bouttats’ print captures the 1683 defeat of the Ottoman army during the Siege of Vienna. Here, the crescent moon standard of the Ottomans lies broken, a potent symbol of their shattered aspirations in Europe. The crescent, deeply rooted in ancient Near Eastern cultures, was adopted by the Ottoman Empire, becoming synonymous with Islamic power. Yet, such appropriation is never linear. Consider the Hellenistic moon goddess Selene, or the Roman Diana, symbols later re-coded, intertwined with cultural memory. This symbol, imbued with lunar mystery, echoes through time. The broken standard is a symbol of defeat, yet the drama of this battle goes beyond mere representation. The terror, the chaos, the fallen—these stir the collective memory, a visceral echo of conflict. Like a recurring dream, such iconography taps into a deep-seated part of the human psyche. Symbols such as the crescent moon follow a cyclical progression. Its meaning, though transformed through time, continues to resonate, evoking responses shaped by both conscious understanding and subconscious associations.