Ontmoeting tussen Manon Lescaut en Chevalier des Grieux bij een koets 1875

Léopold Flameng created this engraving, depicting a meeting between Manon Lescaut and Chevalier des Grieux. The scene is dominated by the stagecoach, a powerful symbol of travel, status, and the shifting fortunes of its occupants. Consider the stagecoach in relation to other images, such as triumphal chariots from antiquity. Both convey a sense of progress and destiny, yet in Flameng's engraving, the stagecoach signifies not triumph but precariousness. Its presence hints at the transient nature of wealth and the characters' uncertain futures. The chance encounter itself carries a potent psychological charge. Encounters, like crossroads, mark pivotal moments where choices determine one's fate. Such imagery triggers deep-seated anxieties about chance and destiny, mirroring the turbulent passions that drive the narrative. The raw emotion and psychological resonance of human encounters continue to captivate, appearing throughout art history in an infinite cycle of reinvention.