Fotoreproductie van een tekening van een naakte vrouw, op de rug gezien, door Rembrandt van Rijn before 1860

This is Edmond Fierlants' photographic reproduction of a drawing by Rembrandt, depicting a nude woman seen from the back. The figure's nudity and the billowing drapery evoke Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. This is a visual trope found across centuries, from Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" to countless other depictions. Venus, often emerging from water or accompanied by flowing fabric, symbolizes fertility, desire, and the life-giving force of nature. The gesture of the drapery swirling around the figure isn't merely decorative; it's a dynamic, recurring motif. Think of how it appears in classical sculptures and Renaissance paintings. This motif has a long and winding path through art history, adapting and evolving to convey different cultural ideals and psychological states, at once masking and revealing. Such images tap into our collective memory, triggering deep-seated associations with beauty, sensuality, and the eternal feminine.