Vrouw zittend op een zeedraak in de golven met bloemen in haar hand Possibly 1610 - 1665

Salomon Savery etched this image of a woman riding a sea dragon in the 17th century. Here, the woman, possibly a Nereid, holds flowers while seated on a hybrid creature, half-beast and half-fish, emerging from the waves. This image reminds us of the ancient myths, where sea creatures symbolize the untamed forces of nature. The woman's serene pose, however, suggests a mastery over these primal instincts. We see echoes of this motif in ancient Greek pottery, where gods tame mythical beasts, or in Renaissance paintings, where virtue subdues vice. Consider the dragon itself: from the Babylonian Tiamat to the Norse Jörmungandr, the dragon embodies chaos and the unknown. Yet, here, it serves as a noble steed, an evolution reflecting our changing relationship with the natural world. It is a symbol of subconscious desires, a powerful image of the human psyche's attempt to reconcile the wild and the cultivated, and a continuous cyclical journey from the depths of mythology to the surface of human understanding.