Stadsgezicht 1725 - 1768

This landscape, etched by Johann Andreas Pfeffel, presents a quaint town dominated by the symbol of a stone bridge. Since antiquity, bridges have represented connection, transition, and passage. Spiritually, they are liminal spaces—thresholds between the earthly and the unknown. This bridge arches over water, evoking the ancient motif of traversing emotional depths, a journey into the self. Consider the Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of ancient Rome, literally meaning "greatest bridge-builder," highlighting the bridge's significance as a link between humanity and the divine. But here, there’s also a sense of enclosure. The bridge’s archway leads to a dark, cavernous opening beneath the house. Is this a reflection of the subconscious, a symbolic entry into the hidden aspects of our collective psyche? As you reflect on this image, consider how this simple structure has resonated through time, its enduring form surfacing in various guises, each echoing the primal human need to connect, to explore, and to understand the spaces between.