Liggende man en vrouw met tamboerijn 1840 - 1907

Johan Michaël Schmidt Crans created this drawing, depicting a reclining man and a woman with a tambourine, during the 19th century. The tambourine, prominently held by the woman, speaks volumes. In antiquity, instruments like the tambourine were not mere noisemakers but potent symbols, often associated with ecstatic rituals and the worship of deities. Consider the Bacchanalia of ancient Rome, where the tambourine's rhythmic pulse accompanied frenzied dances, blurring the lines between the human and the divine. This isn't an isolated phenomenon. We see echoes of this across cultures – the frame drums of shamanic traditions, the tambourines in Dionysian processions, all serving as conduits to altered states of consciousness. The rhythmic beating of the tambourine, like a heartbeat, evokes primordial, visceral responses, tapping into our collective unconscious. This image isn't just a snapshot of a woman with a tambourine; it's a gateway to understanding the enduring human need to transcend the mundane through rhythm and sound.