Portret van een onbekend meisje met een witte jurk en een wit hoofdkapje in een tuin before 1894

This is a photograph of an unknown girl in a white dress and bonnet, set within a garden, made by Mary Bartlett. The girl's attire immediately recalls a sense of purity and innocence, a visual motif deeply embedded in our collective consciousness. The white dress, reminiscent of baptismal gowns or bridal wear, evokes a sense of new beginnings and untouched beauty. The figure’s posture, with her hand outstretched as if in offering or hesitant touch, is a visual gesture that has been seen in art across the ages. The composition and ethereal quality of the image invite us to consider the cyclical nature of such symbols. How the echoes of this figure reappear in different forms and contexts, continually reshaped by cultural and personal memory. This resurfacing and reinterpretation reflects our persistent human need to connect with and understand the themes of innocence, beauty, and the passage of time.