Wreedheden in een boerenhoeve, 1672 1673 - 1674

This anonymous etching from 1672, titled *Atrocities in a Farmhouse*, portrays a scene of stark violence. The figures within are caught in a maelstrom of brutality, their gestures conveying terror and suffering. Consider the recurring motif of the murdered child. Here, a soldier is about to kill a baby, a gruesome echo of the Massacre of the Innocents depicted by artists like Pieter Bruegel the Elder. This infanticide embodies primal fears and societal trauma. These motifs are not isolated, but rather are inherited through collective memory, resurfacing across cultures and epochs. The poses, the anguished expressions, the sheer horror—all contribute to a powerful, subconscious connection with the viewer. The act of cruelty displayed engages our own repressed anxieties and moral sentiments, sparking a visceral reaction that transcends time. The cyclical return of such imagery forces us to confront the enduring presence of violence in the human experience.