Lunar Goddess Holds the Moon — Émile Bayard Engraving, Jules Verne c.1870s

Against an infinite star-scattered void, a draped female figure floats weightlessly through space, cradling the luminous full Moon in her upturned hands like an offering to the cosmos. Her flowing robes and wild streaming hair dissolve into the darkness below, suggesting she herself is made of night. This haunting allegorical wood engraving captures the Romantic era's awe of celestial space, blending mythological imagery with proto-science fiction wonder typical of Jules Verne illustrated editions.