Drie leeuwenkoppen 1729

Bernard Picart created this image of "Drie leeuwenkoppen" or Three Lion Heads, an etching, sometime between the late 17th and early 18th century. Picart was a French engraver who converted from Catholicism to Protestantism in 1710, a time of religious conflict in Europe. This work, while seemingly a simple study of animal heads, exists within a context of power, religion, and identity. Lions are often symbols of strength and courage but also dominance, historically linked with royalty and religious iconography. The three lions, rendered with slightly different expressions, could be seen to represent varying perspectives or facets of a single entity. Picart was working during the Enlightenment, a period that valued reason and individualism, but his personal religious struggles may have led him to question dominant narratives. This image of three lions invites us to consider the complex and multifaceted nature of power and perhaps question its supposed unity and strength.