Herderin op een bank snijdt "Pancred" in een boom c. 1760 - 1825

This print by Auguste Sandoz depicts a shepherdess carving the name "Pancred" into a tree. The act of carving names into trees is an ancient symbol, a tradition across cultures representing love, ownership, or a longing for permanence. Note how the shepherdess echoes the form of the tree, a mirroring that pulls us back to classical antiquity, where trees were believed to be sacred beings, embodiments of nature's spirit. We recall Daphne, transformed into a laurel, forever bound to the earth. Carving, therefore, becomes a symbolic act of connection, a claiming of oneself within the natural world. Consider the pastoral setting; the shepherdess and her flock exist in an Arcadian landscape, a motif popularized in ancient Greece as an idealization of rural life, of simplicity and peace. Yet, beneath this serene image, a darker, more primal understanding stirs within us, a recognition of the human desire to leave a mark, to transcend mortality. The echoes of Pan, the ancient god of shepherds and flocks, remind us that even in idyllic settings, the subconscious and untamed aspects of human nature are at play. This simple carving reveals the deep-seated need to inscribe our existence onto the very fabric of time.