Bekendmaking van het huwelijk aan familie 1740 - 1760

Jan Caspar Philips created this engraving, "Bekendmaking van het huwelijk aan familie," capturing a moment of familial embrace in celebration of a marriage. The act of embracing, a central motif here, carries profound weight, echoing through centuries. Consider, for example, the ancient Roman tradition of the "dextrarum iunctio," where clasped hands symbolized agreement and unity, particularly in marriage. This gesture, laden with societal and legal implications, finds resonance in this intimate family scene. Notice also how these figures mirror one another: the bride and groom, and the family, figures enacting the same gesture and mirroring the same feelings. Such mirroring speaks to shared joy. Emotion and collective memory are subconscious forces, passed down through history and engaging viewers on a deep, primeval level. These cyclical progressions of symbols resurface, evolving and taking on new meaning in different historical contexts.