Large Pendant, Lower Left and Right Two Winged "Devils" Sitting on Pedestals 1596

This engraving of a large pendant comes to us from Daniel Mignot, likely made in the early 17th century. Its elaborate design features winged devils perched on pedestals, figures laden with symbolic weight. These devils, with their wings and ambiguous forms, remind us of the ancient Sileni, companions of Bacchus, beings of mixed nature, part man, part beast, embodying primal forces. Notice how they hold aloft lanterns, echoing the Promethean myth of bringing light, or perhaps suggesting a darker illumination, a forbidden knowledge. These figures, though seemingly rooted in Christian demonology, bear a striking resemblance to earlier pagan entities. Consider how such motifs recur across time, shape-shifting through various cultural lenses. A symbol of wildness and untamed energy is transformed, re-emerging in new guises, and imbued with different moral connotations. The collective unconscious, it seems, remembers and reinterprets, constantly weaving new narratives from old threads. This pendant is not merely an ornament but a vessel of cultural memory, charged with the tension between light and darkness.