General 

Antoine Jacquard created this engraving in the mid-17th century. It depicts a chaotic scene with a central, armored figure, surrounded by grotesque faces and swirling vegetal motifs. These grotesque elements, far from being mere decoration, are deeply rooted in the Renaissance fascination with antiquity and the subconscious. The image calls to mind similar motifs in the Renaissance, like those that decorate the Domus Aurea in Rome, where grotesque figures blend the human, animal, and plant worlds. This blending speaks to a deeper anxiety and fascination with the boundaries of the self and the natural world. The armored figure, perhaps a general, is caged in the center of the swirling monsters, becoming a symbol of an individual trying to impose order, while the subconscious teems and writhes all around him. Note how, over time, these symbols reemerge, transformed but never truly gone, continuously reshaping our understanding of ourselves.