Visitekaartje van drukkerij Gustave Jacqmain te Gent after 1846

This is Gustave Jacqmain’s printing company business card from Ghent, adorned with images representing the arts and sciences, rendered through lithography. Note the recurrence of enclosed scenes, framed by floral patterns and rococo flourishes. The cherubs that decorate the card echo those found in Renaissance art, symbols of divine love and innocence, though here they serve a more secular purpose, representing the arts. I am struck by how these figures, once deeply embedded in religious narratives, migrate to commercial contexts. This motif speaks to a collective memory, where figures are recontextualized, and their symbolic weight subtly altered. Consider, for example, how the motif of the winged figure transforms through time, from ancient representations of victory, to Christian angels, and finally, to emblems of romantic love and commerce. The persistence of such imagery suggests a profound, perhaps subconscious, connection between different epochs, echoing and transforming across the ages.