Studie, mogelijk van een brugonderdeel 1870 - 1923

Willem Witsen created this sketch of a bridge component with charcoal on paper. The bridge, an archetypal image of connection, has been imbued with symbolic weight across cultures, representing transitions and passages, both physical and metaphorical. Consider the Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of ancient Rome, literally the "greatest bridge-builder," who was responsible for maintaining bridges—essential for the city’s infrastructure and symbolic of the link between the human and the divine. This motif of crossing over is seen in the rainbow bridge of Norse mythology connecting Midgard, the world of humans, and Asgard, the realm of the gods. These symbolic bridges act as pathways for cultural exchange, and psychological development. Witsen's sketch, though simple, taps into this archetypal image, evoking our collective need to overcome divisions.