Gipsmodellen voor beeldhouwwerken op het Palais du Louvre: links "Poussin" door François Rude en rechts "Audran" door Jacques Maillet c. 1855 - 1857

Edouard Baldus captured these plaster models for sculptures at the Palais du Louvre in this photograph. Note the figure to the left, "Poussin" by François Rude, clutching what appears to be a book or tablet. This gesture of holding a manuscript echoes across time, from ancient scribes to Renaissance scholars. The act of holding a book has long symbolized knowledge, wisdom, and the transmission of ideas. One may even find it in depictions of the evangelists. The object as a symbol transcends its literal form. It becomes a vessel of meaning, charged with cultural memory. This is where the psychoanalytic comes in, how might the collective unconscious affect our view? The way Poussin holds the book suggests a reverence for intellectual pursuits and a deep connection to the classical past. The recurring image of the book signifies its continuous power to instruct and inspire across generations. This symbolic echo is not linear but cyclical, always returning, transformed, and renewed.