De geest van Gustaaf II Adolf verschijnt aan het bed van de keurvorst van Saksen, 1635 1635

This 1635 engraving depicts the ghost of King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden appearing to the Elector of Saxony. Observe the ghost’s outstretched hand, an age-old gesture. The Greeks used it to suggest a divine presence, a symbol inherited by Christian art to represent God’s power and protection. Here, however, it takes on a new meaning. Adolf, a Protestant leader, appears to the elector as a warning. A symbolic "X" of light intersects the Elector's face, a motif we find echoed in Caravaggio's dramatic use of light and shadow to indicate moments of revelation or crisis. The power of such images lies in their ability to tap into our collective memory. It represents a moment in which divine intervention and the weight of historical events intersect in the subconscious, manifesting as a powerful force that engages viewers. The hand of God transforms into the spectral hand of a fallen king—a testament to the cyclical nature of symbols, perpetually reborn in the crucible of human experience.