Gezicht op Tiberias, links het Meer van Tiberias 1857

Here we see Francis Frith's 19th-century photograph of Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee, where ruins and the lone figure become potent symbols. The ruins evoke the passage of time and the transience of human achievement, a familiar memento mori motif. This echoes the crumbling empires found in Piranesi’s etchings of Rome. The lone figure, perched amidst the ruins, is a potent symbol of human reflection. Consider the "melancholia" archetype, where figures contemplate the weight of existence amidst decay. Such images tap into our collective memory of fallen civilizations, stirring a subconscious awareness of our mortality and the cyclical nature of history. This landscape, with its layers of history and spiritual significance, engages viewers on a deeply personal, almost primal level. The enduring appeal lies in how it resurrects, shifts, and reshapes itself across time.