Ongeregeldheden te Meppel, 1785 1783 - 1795

This etching, made in 1785 by Reinier Vinkeles, depicts unrest in Meppel. The central motif is violence: men in the throes of conflict, one wielding a long object, perhaps a stick, against another who stumbles backward. Consider the act of striking. Its recurrence echoes through time, from ancient friezes showing battle scenes to Renaissance paintings of martyrdom. Each repetition, each iteration, carries the weight of its predecessors, yet morphs to reflect its own era’s concerns. Here, the violence is not heroic but rather chaotic and unsettling. Our collective memory and the subconscious recognition of such scenes evoke a sense of unease, tapping into primal fears of disorder and aggression. This image does not merely depict; it stirs, prompting reflection on humanity’s cyclical dance with conflict. The struggle for power, be it physical or ideological, continues to manifest in new forms.