Lijst voor een spiegel boven een schoorsteenmantel, mogelijk een productfoto van een fabrikant 1862 - 1893

This is a photograph of a mirror frame made by the Société Royale Belge de Photographie. Note the vertical frieze featuring a putto entangled in sinuous foliage. This symbol is part of a rich visual language that has been passed down through history. The putto, derived from classical antiquity, embodies innocence and divine love. Crowned with garlands, it represents the cyclical renewal of nature. These motifs are not static, however. They reappear across epochs, transforming under the weight of collective memory and subconscious desires. The garland, for instance, can be traced back to ancient Roman triumphal arches, where it symbolized victory and prosperity. In this modern context, the symbol evokes a sense of domestic harmony and cultivated aestheticism. By tracing the persistence and adaptation of these visual motifs, we gain insight into the cultural memory, and how it shapes our collective consciousness. This piece serves as a reminder of how the past continually resurfaces.