Ontwerp voor titelblad van Receuil de Lions 1774

Jacques Kuyper created this title page design with pen and gray ink and brush in the late 18th century. The composition is structured around a melancholic lion in repose, framed by a landscape, with lettering that seems carved into a stone tablet. This arrangement immediately evokes a sense of classical monumentality. Kuyper's work invites us to consider the interplay between nature, art, and language. The lion, rendered with precise lines, suggests a raw, natural power but appears docile within the constructed artistic space. This tension reflects Enlightenment ideals, where reason and nature were in constant negotiation. Semiotically, the lion—a traditional symbol of strength—is softened, perhaps representing a shift in cultural values or a commentary on the domestication of the natural world through art. The lettering, resembling an inscription, further underscores the theme of permanence and the human desire to categorize and immortalize. Notice how the landscape, though secondary, provides a structural backdrop that anchors the central image. This carefully balanced composition challenges fixed notions of power. It functions as an ongoing dialogue between the wild and the cultivated.