Gezicht vanop de berg Erix 1781 - 1786

This etching by Emmanuel Jean de Ghendt depicts Mount Eryx, the site of the ancient Temple of Venus Erycina. Even in ruins, the temple on the hilltop acts as a visual anchor, a silent witness to the passage of time. Note how temples dedicated to Venus, the Roman goddess of love, were strategically placed on elevated sites. This echoes the ancient Minoan peak sanctuaries, places of worship on mountaintops, dedicated to female deities. These mountaintop temples suggest a persistent human impulse to connect with the divine through elevation and proximity to the heavens. The persistence of Venus, from ancient peaks to Roman temples, reveals a deep-seated yearning to connect with the feminine divine and the primal forces of love and fertility. This yearning resurfaces through history, adapting to new cultural landscapes, yet always retaining a glimmer of its ancient power. This image, therefore, is not just a depiction of a place; it is a portal into our collective memory, evoking echoes of ancient rituals and timeless human desires.