Het spelen van jong en oud 1878

This print by De Ruyter & Meijer, titled "Het spelen van jong en oud," captures various forms of recreation shared across generations. Dominating the composition, we see depictions of children and adults alike, engaged in simple games and pastimes—scenes of winter games with a snowman, playing marbles, dancing, and indoor table games. Consider the snowman: a figure built by the collective, adorned with discarded objects, almost like a primitive idol. We see echoes of this impulse across cultures—the creation of effigies and temporary monuments imbued with communal hopes and fears. Think of carnival figures, paraded and then ritually destroyed, carrying away the community’s sins. Such creations tap into deep-seated human needs: to create, to play, to transform the mundane into something meaningful. This image reminds us that the impulse to play and create is a timeless, cross-generational phenomenon.