Terrasse du château de Saint-Cloud, Saint-Cloud, Paris et la tour Eiffel 1899

Frédéric Houbron sketched this view of the Terrasse du château de Saint-Cloud, Saint-Cloud, Paris et la tour Eiffel in 1899. The Eiffel Tower looms in the background, a symbol of modernity in a city steeped in history. The tower is a key motif of aspiration, a ladder reaching heavenward, evoking the Tower of Babel. We find similar vertical thrusts in Gothic cathedrals, their spires also aimed at the divine. Yet, the Eiffel Tower—made of iron—speaks of industrial progress, an assertion of human achievement and the rational mind. However, it also carries the echoes of hubris. The Tower, much like the Tower of Babel, represents the ambition to transcend human limitations, a motif that elicits a sense of awe but also trepidation. It represents the cyclical recurrence of human aspirations and their inherent risks, resonating deep within our collective psyche.