De fire årstider. Efterår 1818 - 1871

J.V. Gertner created this drawing, "Autumn," depicting classical figures using pencil. The image teems with symbols that echo through time, most notably, the grape vines. Here, the vines are heavy with fruit, a classical symbol of abundance and the harvest season, signaling the pleasures of food and drink. The motif is a direct descendent from the rites of Dionysus in ancient Greece, the god of wine and fertility. You will find these clusters depicted in Bacchic scenes throughout antiquity, often adorning the heads of revelers, a symbol of ecstasy and release. Yet, in Christianity, the same grapes become eucharistic, transformed into the sacred wine representing the blood of Christ. This act of transformation of an object or symbol speaks to how collective memory and subconscious processes affect the way images and objects are understood through generations. These symbols are non-linear, cyclical, resurfacing and evolving, carrying echoes of past associations while adapting to new cultural landscapes.