Illustratie voor 'Den Arbeid van Mars' van Allain Manesson Mallet 1672

Romeyn de Hooghe created this illustration for Allain Manesson Mallet's 'The Work of Mars' using etching. At its heart, we see a bastion. It is an angular structure, a fortress—an image of power and protection. The bastion, with its sharp angles, echoes earlier fortifications, like the medieval castle walls. The image also includes cannons. The bastion is a testament to human ingenuity in war, but it also echoes humanity's primal need for safety. Like the walls of Jericho or the Roman castra, this bastion symbolizes defense, a bulwark against the chaos of the world. The impulse to fortify, to protect, resonates through millennia, manifesting in our collective memory as both a necessity and a reflection of our deepest fears. The bastion has been reborn countless times, each iteration shaped by the needs and anxieties of its age.