"En lille Historie i 3 billeder" 1870 - 1880

This small print, "En lille Historie i 3 billeder," presents a seemingly simple scene of two children by a stream. The girl, balancing on stones with arms outstretched, evokes the ancient motif of the soul's journey, a precarious dance between worlds. Consider how this echoes the tightrope walker, a figure found in countless cultures, symbolizing risk and balance. The boy, standing passively, perhaps represents the observer, the one left behind. The stream itself is a potent symbol. In mythology, rivers mark boundaries, transitions. Think of the Styx, the river of the dead. Here, the girl's crossing becomes a metaphor for passage, for the inevitable movement from one state to another. This echoes through time, from ancient Egyptian depictions of souls crossing water to modern interpretations of life's journey. These images resonate, engaging us at a subconscious level because they tap into universal human experiences. We see in this simple scene the cyclical nature of symbols, how they resurface, evolve, and continue to speak to us across the ages.