Weg in den Wald, am Weg ein Gatterzaun und ein Bauernwagen mit zwei Pferden 

Curator: This drawing, housed here at the Städel Museum, is by Hermanus van Brussel. The title translates to “Road into the Woods, a Gate Fence Along the Way and a Farm Cart with Two Horses.” Editor: Immediately, the way the light filters through the leaves gives me this sensation of nostalgic calm. It feels like a memory of a simpler time. Curator: It's rendered with ink and pencil. The layering of these materials creates depth, doesn't it? Van Brussel used a variety of strokes to differentiate textures—smooth for the sky, wiry for foliage. I wonder how this type of rural scene functioned culturally at the time. Editor: Genre painting like this often carries an idealized vision, perhaps commenting on the virtues of rural life against the backdrop of increasing urbanization. The path acts as a transitional space; it invites the viewer in, maybe offering an escape. What I find most powerful is how van Brussel captured something that’s also fundamentally symbolic. Curator: Interesting perspective. One way I interpret that, building on what you said about 'escape', is thinking of this pathway into a dense forest as the liminal zone in folk tales – that place between the mundane world and the realm of the fantastic, a place of transformation. Editor: True, but consider that he positions a work-a-day wagon on this path. How might social class temper that fairytale reading? What is seemingly available to anyone is bound to labour and access in society, especially during the 18th and 19th century! Curator: That's a powerful point. Maybe that horse-drawn cart symbolizes human interaction with and gentle taming of nature. It adds a certain socio-economic dimension too. But those massive, ancient trees dwarfing the little wagon... Editor: Symbolically, I can appreciate how those trees provide this sort of natural shelter for the common individual. In essence, this pen-ink and watercolour rendering encourages audiences to reflect on their roles and interconnections with both the natural and societal landscapes of the past.