Straatverkoop vanuit een handkar op het Rokin in Amsterdam c. 1890 - 1910

George Hendrik Breitner captured this photograph of a street market from a handcart on the Rokin in Amsterdam. At its heart is the wheel, a symbol not merely of transport but of cyclical existence itself. Here, the humble handcart links back to Fortuna's wheel, a potent symbol of fate's unpredictable nature. Recall those medieval depictions where kings rise and fall with its turn. Breitner's photograph captures this very notion in the everyday; the vendor’s wares represent both hope and precariousness in equal measure. We see echoed in the faces of the shoppers a mix of anticipation and concern, their fortunes, like those on Fortuna's wheel, are subject to the whims of the market. This symbol carries a deep emotional weight. It embodies humanity’s eternal quest to find stability in an ever-changing world. Breitner’s image reminds us that, like the wheel, life turns, ever onward.