Plate 4: three figures seated outside of a church 1680 - 1747

Lodovico Mattioli etched this plate depicting three figures seated outside a church, sometime around the late 17th to early 18th century. The church, crowned with a cross, immediately evokes centuries of Christian symbolism: faith, redemption, divine presence. Yet, consider the three figures. They appear to be in contemplation, their backs turned, almost as if in a world separate from the imposing sacred structure. This echoes motifs found in earlier medieval art, where figures are often depicted in isolation, absorbed in thought. The pose of backs turned on the viewer reappears across art history, from Romantic landscapes, to modern photography, each time taking on new layers of meaning. Here, it invites reflection on the changing relationship between individuals and religious institutions, a shift from communal worship to personal introspection. It taps into our collective memory, resonating with the subconscious pull between tradition and individual experience, revealing that the life of symbols is never linear but cyclical, constantly resurfacing, evolving, and engaging us on a profoundly human level.