Psychoanalysis conceives of psychic activity as driven by the pursuit of the lost object of the experience of satisfaction: to desire is to follow the traces of the object when it has disappeared. We can therefore suppose that the trace, the imprint left by the object, is likely to play a mediating, transitional role between the absence of representation and the representation of absence. The author considers this hypothesis in the light of some major psychoanalytical concepts, notably those of André Green. The author hypothesizes that the footprint on the ground, mirroring that left by the maternal holding on the skin, constitutes a depiction of the framing structure. This suggestion is illustrated by an extract from a clinical study and a reflection on an aspect of the work of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.