Moeder en krijgslieden bij de resten van haar opgegeten kind tijdens de hongersnood in Jeruzalem 1574

Christoffel van Sichem I created this woodcut, “Mother and soldiers with the remains of her eaten child during the famine in Jerusalem”, a scene of intense suffering, sometime between 1546 and 1624. The print depicts a biblical story during the siege of Jerusalem, where famine drove a mother to cannibalism. This work speaks to the depths of human despair and the breakdown of societal norms under extreme conditions. The anguished mother becomes a figure of both horror and pity as she is confronted by soldiers. The image also invites reflection on the ethics of survival, raising difficult questions about the limits of human behavior when pushed to the edge. What does it mean to see motherhood – an experience and identity often associated with nurturing and care – violently inverted? Sichem asks us to witness a taboo, pushing viewers to confront uncomfortable truths about humanity's capacity for cruelty and desperation. Consider how such historical events continue to resonate in contemporary discussions about conflict, famine, and human rights.