Landskab med Narcissus og Ekko 1660

Claude Lorrain made this drawing titled 'Landscape with Narcissus and Echo', now held at the Statens Museum for Kunst, using pen and brown ink. Lorrain, working in the 17th century, lived in a time shaped by the Baroque aesthetic and the rise of the European landscape tradition. This drawing reimagines a story from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and is less about the figures of Narcissus and Echo themselves and more about exploring themes of identity and unrequited love within the natural world. The figures, rendered with a subtle hand, are almost swallowed by the landscape. Echo, unable to express her own desires, fades into a mere reflection of Narcissus's self-obsession. The landscape takes center stage, reflecting the emotional complexities of the narrative. It prompts a moment to consider how we, like Narcissus, can become consumed by our own reflections, and the echoes of our desires.