Monument voor Johannes Henricus van der Palm 1843 - 1853

This print by Jan Baptist Tetar van Elven depicts the monument to Johannes Henricus van der Palm. The monument, framed by a Gothic arch, encapsulates a bust of van der Palm and is fenced off by iron bars. The Gothic arch, with its pointed apex, has, since the Middle Ages, been associated with a reaching towards the divine. It is an architectural echo of the aspirations for spiritual transcendence. The fence, while physically separating the viewer from the bust, does not close off access: the father and son are standing by the fence. This gesture of memorializing figures dates back to antiquity. Consider the Roman practice of creating portrait busts of ancestors. What begins as a gesture of familial piety evolves into a civic duty, with busts displayed in public spaces, creating a lineage of exemplary figures. This desire to honor and remember resonates through time, revealing our collective impulse to immortalize those who have shaped our world.