Prøveblad med æsel og landskab 1866 - 1870

This is Vilhelm Bissen's etching, "Prøveblad med æsel og landskab", featuring an ass and a landscape. Let us consider the ass, which is positioned above a human figure, and appears again in the bottom panel. Historically, the ass carries a dual symbolism. In some contexts, it represents humility and patience, like Christ entering Jerusalem. Yet, the ass is also laden with negative connotations, embodying stubbornness, ignorance, and the base instincts of man. This duality reminds us of Apuleius's "The Golden Ass," where the protagonist's transformation into an ass symbolizes the loss of reason. We see the ass as a figure traversing the landscape of the human psyche, pulled between the spiritual and the earthly. Here, Bissen evokes a sense of melancholy, the animal seems to carry the weight of existence itself. It is a persistent motif, reminding us of our primal selves, a force that, though often suppressed, continues to shape our actions and perceptions.