On the Piazza, 6 a.m. Possibly 1894 - 1896

This photograph by Alfred Stieglitz captures Venice's Piazza at dawn. A massive pillar dominates the foreground, its base becoming a resting place for a figure shrouded in sleep. The pillar, an ancient symbol of strength and stability, here becomes an anchor for human frailty. We find echoes of this motif throughout history. Consider the classical world, where columns held temples aloft, embodying divine power, or even in medieval depictions of hermits seeking refuge against the structures of ruins. The act of reclining, of seeking rest at the base of something monumental, speaks to a universal longing for solace, a desire to find peace in the shadow of the eternal. This act of sleeping can be traced from classical depictions of Endymion, a shepherd granted eternal sleep by the moon goddess Selene, to more modern works that ponder the boundaries between consciousness and the subconscious. The cycle continues, reappearing with new inflections as the human spirit seeks rest within the architecture of its surroundings.