Antwerp 1833

Samuel Prout rendered this print of Antwerp in the 19th century, capturing a bustling scene dominated by the soaring cathedral. Its spire pierces the sky, a beacon of faith and civic pride, its presence invoking centuries of religious and cultural heritage. The spire, an aspiration towards the heavens, echoes the Tower of Babel, a shared human impulse to reach the divine. Even in its Christian context, we see vestiges of older, pagan symbols—the pointed form reminiscent of ancient obelisks, symbols of solar worship and power. Consider the obelisks of Egypt, transplanted to Rome, reimagined yet retaining that primal connection to the sun and sky. This impulse towards the monumental, the sky-reaching, speaks to a collective yearning, a psychological striving embedded deep within our cultural memory, constantly resurfacing and reshaping itself across epochs.