Title Page from Ein Handschuh (A Glove). Cyclus von zehn Compositionen radirt. Rad. Opus VI. First edition 1881

This title page for Max Klinger's series "A Glove" presents us with symbols pregnant with meaning. The central vignette depicts a female figure atop a lion, holding aloft what seems to be a glove and a caduceus. The caduceus, with its entwined snakes, long associated with Hermes, represents commerce, negotiation, and the mediation of opposites. The image is reminiscent of the Greco-Roman goddess Fortuna, whose attributes included a rudder and wheel – symbols of control and the vagaries of fate. The lion, of course, symbolizes strength and courage, but also pride. Now, consider the glove. Initially, it is merely an object, but the image becomes charged with emotional and psychological significance. The glove becomes a fetish: a vessel for subconscious desires and anxieties. The image is a palimpsest of cultural memory, bearing traces of ancient symbols even as it anticipates the anxieties of modernity. The glove, held high, is not merely an object but a charged signifier, a catalyst for our own psychological projections.