Book 2, Fable 17: the man and the Siren (L'Homme et la Sirene) 1719

Curator: Nicolas Henry Tardieu’s "Book 2, Fable 17: the man and the Siren" from 1719. It’s currently located at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Made with engraving as the primary medium. What’s your take? Editor: Mmm, delicate. Melancholic. There's this yearning—look at how the man reaches, yet never quite grasps the siren’s hand. The swirling sea, that cherubic figure riding a dolphin, there is definitely a sense of a symbolic allegory. Curator: Absolutely, that reaching without quite touching captures that melancholic note well. Water is often a symbol of change, purification, but also danger, here you see both in the representation. But consider the siren herself - the whole trope of seductive beauty combined with the perilous unknown... It screams warning. Editor: True, the Siren figure...it’s timeless, isn't it? The tempting, unattainable feminine... She echoes through art history and carries such a weighty cultural baggage that goes far beyond one fable. It also resonates in dream symbols in psychological settings. The allure of something that will ruin you, you know? That burning torch in the upper left...it is pointing the wrong way, isn't it? Curator: Yes, there's that light offered, like potential salvation, or guidance, held aloof and up in the sky as the man reaches towards a different light. It hints at a sacrifice being made, of clear thinking, perhaps. The heart chooses the depths. Or, more cheerfully perhaps it tells the opposite narrative. Editor: Haha, possibly so. Light and dark...literally. This tiny etching feels strangely immense in implications! Baroque drama at its finest, I think, contained in such a small frame. So many layers. Curator: Indeed! It invites that deeper contemplation even on a surface so seemingly simple. Every viewer could find themselves pulled by the tide. Editor: Maybe we all are a bit like that man on the rocks, reaching for a dream just beyond our grasp. An era immortalized through ink and allegory, yes. Let the image resonate with the ones who listen, and have each of them ponder how they will use the gift of fire.