Gewonde soldaat in een veld before 1898

Heinrich Krabbé's "Wounded Soldier in a Field," now at the Rijksmuseum, captures the raw immediacy of war through simple lines. The prone soldier, his rifle cast aside, becomes a symbol of vulnerability. Consider the motif of the fallen warrior, echoed across millennia. From the heroes of Homer's epics to the martyrs of Christian art, this figure embodies suffering and sacrifice. Yet, Krabbé's soldier lacks the heroic ideal. He lies face down, lost in the anonymity of the battlefield. The image evokes the pathos formula, a term I have used to describe how certain images tap into our shared emotional and cultural memory, engaging viewers on a subconscious level. The fallen soldier, repeated throughout history, becomes a potent symbol of the tragic consequences of conflict. This symbol transcends time, resurfacing, evolving, and taking on new meanings in different historical contexts.