Staande dame, met hoge hoed en de handen in de zij 1864 - 1936

Jan van Essen sketched this standing lady with charcoal, a medium that lends itself to capturing fleeting moments. Observe how the woman places her hands on her hips; this seemingly simple gesture carries centuries of symbolic weight. Consider the pose of the woman in van Essen's drawing, hands firmly on her hips—a posture of self-assuredness. It's a stance we see echoed in ancient sculptures of goddesses asserting their power, like the Minoan Snake Goddess with exposed breasts, confident and commanding, or even in depictions of powerful women throughout history. In antiquity, it signified not just confidence but control. This iconography traverses time and space, cropping up in Renaissance portraits and even modern photography. Now, think of the emotional undercurrent here. Why does this stance resonate so deeply with viewers? It might be tied to our collective memory, a primal assertion of self that evokes feelings of strength and independence. The hands-on-hips gesture is not merely physical; it's psychological, echoing through the ages, constantly refashioned by the currents of culture and individual expression.