Drie putti bij een bijenkorf 1754

This etching by Simon Fokke, likely made around 1754, depicts three putti alongside a beehive, all framed by floral garlands. The beehive, a dominant symbol here, traditionally represents industry, diligence, and community, often associated with prosperity and order. Consider how this very motif reappears throughout art history, from ancient Roman emblems to Renaissance allegories. The industrious bee, crafting honey within the organized hive, mirrors human society. Yet, the sting of the bee, or wasp, reminds us of both pleasure and pain, sweetness and danger. It is a potent symbol of life's dualities. Think of how the putto figure, innocent yet mischievous, introduces a layer of complex feeling. In these symbols, we see the cyclical dance of cultural memory, an ebb and flow where symbols are continually re-imagined and re-contextualized. The past is not merely left behind, but rather it resurfaces, transformed, in the visual language of later generations.