Mont Sainte-Victoire [recto] c. 1895

Here, Paul Cézanne captures Mont Sainte-Victoire with watercolor and pencil. The mountain, a silent sentinel, looms in the background, a motif resonating with the classical ideal of nature's sublime power. Note the trees in the foreground, rendered with sparse strokes, echoing the ancient symbol of the "Tree of Life"– a motif stretching from Mesopotamian art to Renaissance tapestries. It has always represented growth, connection, and the link between the earthly and divine. Consider how, in ancient Greece, sacred groves were focal points of worship, trees served as abodes of deities. This reverence evolved through the ages, resurfacing even in modern Romantic landscapes. Cézanne's trees, though modern, tap into this collective memory. They remind us that nature has always been a mirror reflecting humanity's deepest aspirations and anxieties. The mountain and the trees create a composition imbued with a sense of timelessness, a powerful echo of nature's enduring presence in our collective psyche.