Apollo en Diana doden de kinderen van Niobe 1733

Bernard Picart created this print titled 'Apollo and Diana Killing the Children of Niobe.' Here, Apollo and Diana are divine archers, symbols of swift, inescapable fate. Hovering in the clouds, they embody divine retribution, their bows drawn against the mortal Niobe's hubris. Niobe, in her arrogance, dared to compare herself to Leto, the mother of these gods. We see her children lying dead, struck down by the arrows of the twin deities. The image of the divine archer has its roots in ancient mythology, appearing in various cultures as a representation of power and justice. Consider the figure of the archer in Egyptian art, or even the recurring motif of the centaur Sagittarius, half-man, half-beast, aiming his bow. The arrow, as a symbol, pierces through ignorance, delivering truth or punishment. The collective memory of such images imprints on our subconscious, stirring feelings of awe and fear in the face of divine power. The cyclical nature of this symbol reminds us that the past is always present, resurfacing in new forms, laden with accumulated meanings.