Vrouw als personificatie van Hoop (Fides) met naar boven opgeslagen ogen 1510 - 1527

Marcantonio Raimondi created this engraving, Vrouw als personificatie van Hoop (Fides) met naar boven opgeslagen ogen, which translates to "Woman as a personification of Hope (Faith) with eyes raised upwards". The figure's upward gaze is a potent symbol, one deeply embedded in our cultural memory. This gesture appears throughout history, from ancient Roman depictions of Spes, the goddess of hope, to Christian art where saints often look to the heavens for divine inspiration. The raised eyes are not merely about seeking help; they express a deep yearning, a reaching out towards something beyond our immediate grasp. Consider the ancient Greeks, for whom the eyes were the "windows to the soul," and how, through this lens, upward-turned eyes became a symbol of spiritual aspiration. The symbolic language speaks to the human psyche, the eternal desire to overcome earthly bounds. It reveals how, through the ages, humanity has looked toward the skies, encoding our hopes and dreams in a single, powerful image.