Portrait of Jean Monet 1880

In this portrait by Claude Monet, painted with delicate strokes, we see the artist’s son, Jean. The boy’s gaze, though childlike, is imbued with a certain melancholy that transcends his years. It’s in those eyes that we find a motif echoing across time. Consider the Fayum mummy portraits from Roman Egypt, where the deceased are depicted with similarly large, expressive eyes, as if gazing out from beyond the veil. This poignant gaze, a window to the soul, resurfaces again and again, in Byzantine icons and Renaissance portraits, each time carrying a weight of human emotion, a yearning for connection. Perhaps this universal appeal lies in our collective memory, a subconscious recognition of shared human experiences. The artist taps into this reservoir, eliciting empathy and stirring emotions buried deep within us. It is a cyclical, non-linear progression, where symbols resurface, evolve, and take on new meanings, echoing the ebb and flow of human history.