Handtekeningen van generaals, 1830 1830

This collection of generals' signatures was created in 1830 by an anonymous artist. The handwritten names, inscribed with ink, are more than mere labels. Each is a symbolic assertion of identity, a personal mark left by individuals of high status. Consider the flourish, the deliberate loops, the varying pressure of the pen – each calligraphic element tells a story. The signature, not just as a functional identification, but as an expressive emblem of the self. Think back to ancient times, to the use of seals and emblems on coins and monuments. These too were assertions of power and identity, not unlike the personalized signatures before us. Signatures have undergone numerous transformations, evolving alongside society's changing relationship with authority. What was once a declaration of status has become a universal requirement of officialdom, a testament to the cyclical recurrence of symbols in culture and history. Each stroke echoes through time, bearing a semblance of cultural memory.