Leven op het platteland 1739 - 1780

This is an engraving made by Francesco Bartolozzi, depicting life in the countryside. The landscape is dotted with symbols of human presence: a distant city, a windmill, various figures engaged in daily activities, and the prominent round tower. The tower calls to mind the Tower of Babel, a motif that has traversed time, symbolizing humanity's ambition and the inevitable fall from grace. Like the tower, trees are symbols that connect heaven and earth, present here, but bent. The presence of such symbols might stir in us a collective memory, a subconscious understanding of mankind's endeavors and limitations. They engage us on a deep, almost primal level, echoing through history and reminding us of the cyclical nature of human experience.