Titelprent voor de serie kostuumprenten in facsimile Habitus Variarum Gentium 1872 - 1875

This is an anonymous print created in 1581 as the title page for a series on the costumes of different nations. Winged cherubs and sphinxes prominently adorn the piece, symbols that echo across millennia. Consider the sphinx, a figure that originated in ancient Egypt, embodying wisdom and guardianship. Here, they flank the base, linking the costumes above to antiquity, yet they have undergone a metamorphosis, becoming ornamental. This reflects how symbols are continuously reinterpreted through the filters of each epoch’s cultural subconscious. Note, too, the cherubs, descendants of pagan Cupids. They stand reborn in Christian art, holding baskets of fruit. The cherub's transformation embodies a deep-seated human desire for renewal and innocence. These figures aren't just decorative; they represent the human psyche's enduring quest for meaning, continually reshaping ancient forms to express new truths. Thus the artwork as a whole expresses a non-linear cultural progression, as old ideas resurface in altered forms.