Brief aan de Commissie voor hulp wegens de overstroming te Den Haag Possibly 1861 - 1864

This letter was written in 1861 by Alexander Schaepkens of Maastricht to the Commission for flood relief in The Hague. While the script itself does not present conventional iconography, the handwritten element speaks volumes. Consider the act of handwriting itself. In a world increasingly dominated by print, and now by digital communication, the personal touch of a handwritten letter carries an emotional weight, embodying intimacy, sincerity, and individual presence. Across time and cultures, handwriting has been seen as a direct expression of the self, a visible manifestation of one's inner thoughts and emotions. This letter revives archetypal memories of human interaction, where the physical act of writing connects the sender and receiver in a deeply personal way. The imperfect strokes and unique flourishes remind us of our own fallibility, but also our unique identity. This powerful force of human expression continues to engage us on a profound, subconscious level, resurfacing and evolving with each new historical context.