San Francisco 1855 - 1856

Charles Meryon etched this panoramic view of San Francisco sometime in the mid-19th century. Note the figures flanking the city's name; these classical forms, so evocative of ancient ideals, are deliberately placed here to embody a sense of prosperity and progress. The incorporation of classical figures harkens back to the Renaissance, a time when artists similarly integrated classical motifs to imbue their works with an air of sophistication and timelessness. Consider how these figures resonate with the concept of "peregrination," a symbolic journey. Here, the journey symbolizes not just physical travel to a new land, but also the transmission of cultural and artistic values across continents. In the collective memory, the classical form elicits a sense of order and human achievement, emotions that are consciously or subconsciously woven into the fabric of the image. This symbolic journey, this constant return and reinvention, mirrors the cyclical nature of cultural history.