Drie ontwerpen voor tafels en omlijstingen 1698

Filippo Passarini's drawing presents three furniture designs, each showcasing distinct Baroque exuberance. Notice the cartouches filled with symbols. On the left, a lamp with a radiant star above alludes to enlightenment, while to the right, a dove enveloped in divine light represents the Holy Spirit. These emblems are not new; they're echoes of visual ideas that have traversed centuries. The dove, for instance, has symbolized peace and divine presence since antiquity, appearing in Roman art and later adopted by Christian iconography. Consider how, even in the Renaissance, the dove was reinterpreted, often depicted descending upon the Virgin Mary, embodying purity and divine grace. Such symbols trigger a profound, perhaps subconscious, response. We are drawn to these images because they resonate with deeply ingrained cultural memories. Each repetition and evolution of these images contributes to a collective understanding and acceptance of the divine. Symbols are cyclical, their meanings never truly lost, resurfacing and evolving as they are carried through time.