Briefkaart aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1897

This is an Italian postal card addressed to Philip Zilcken. But observe more closely: the ink stamps bearing dates and locations are more than mere administrative marks. These are traces of a journey, echoes of time itself. Notice the recurring motif of the circle in these postal stamps. The circle is one of humankind’s oldest symbols, representing wholeness, eternity, and cyclical return. Consider its appearance in ancient sun disks or mandalas, where it symbolizes the cosmos and spiritual unity. Here, the circle signifies not only a physical route—the trajectory of this humble card from Ravenna to Terranova and back—but also suggests a deeper symbolic journey through memory and time. It embodies the very act of communication, of bridging distances both physical and temporal. This postal card becomes a vessel carrying the weight of history and the echoes of human connection across time.