Post-mortemportret van een jonge vrouw 1850 - 1890

This is a post-mortem portrait of a young woman by Louis Sauvager. The girl is adorned with a crown and a heart-shaped symbol, likely the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a symbol of divine love and compassion. These symbols of purity and innocence can be traced back to antiquity. Consider, for instance, the funerary practices of ancient Rome, where wreaths of flowers symbolized the deceased’s virtue and eternal life. This motif resurfaces in Christian art, where halos and crowns denote saints and martyrs. The Sacred Heart, emerging later, embodies Christ’s sacrifice and boundless love for humanity. The heart, an ancient symbol of love, courage, and life itself, underwent a profound transformation, evolving from a secular emblem of earthly passion to a religious icon of divine affection. The persistence of such symbols reveals our collective subconscious need to confront mortality and seek solace in transcendent ideals.