Beeld van een slapende faun 1697 - 1739

This etching by Louis Desplaces depicts a sleeping faun. We see this hybrid creature, half-man and half-goat, reclining, embodying a fusion of human intellect and untamed animal instinct. This image evokes ancient Greek and Roman bacchanals, celebrations of Dionysus or Bacchus, the god of wine and ecstasy. In these rituals, the faun, a symbol of nature's wildness and unrestrained desires, plays a central role. Think of the famous sculpture, the Barberini Faun, where we see a similar figure lost in drunken slumber. This motif of the sleeping, sensual being transcends epochs; in the Renaissance, it reappears in paintings and sculptures, often symbolizing the unbridled pleasures of earthly life, hinting at a deeper, subconscious yearning for freedom and primal joy. The persistence of this image speaks to a collective memory, a longing for a state of being unburdened by societal constraints. It serves as a potent reminder of the enduring power of symbols to engage us on a primal, emotional level.