Abklatsch van de krijttekening op pagina 19 1893 - 1897

This offset of a chalk drawing by Willem Witsen captures a scene of figures, their forms roughly sketched, evoking a sense of transient, fleeting moments. The most striking symbol here is the ladder, or rather, the act of ascending or descending. This motif has rich historical roots, echoing the biblical story of Jacob's Ladder, a conduit between the earthly and the divine. In Witsen's rendering, the ladder loses its explicit religious context yet retains its symbolic essence as a passage. Consider how the act of climbing, laden with psychological weight, reappears across time. Think of the "Storming of the Winter Palace," where revolutionaries climb to overthrow the old order. Or, in dreams, the ladder is a symbol of ambition and progress. Here, the emotional pull lies in the precariousness of the climb, a visual metaphor for life’s constant striving and inevitable falls, connecting us through shared cultural memory. The image doesn't offer a resolution. This ambiguity invites us to reflect on the cyclical nature of human experience, the recurring patterns of aspiration and struggle that define our collective psyche.