Kaartspel met beroepen 1698

Giuseppe Maria Mitelli created this game board depicting various trades with etching techniques. Each scene is a tableau of daily life, but consider the dice at the top of each scene. These are not merely markers of play, but symbols of fate, revealing how each trade is subject to fortune's whims. Notice the image of the tailor, scissors in hand, forever cutting cloth. This act echoes ancient symbols of creation and destruction—a duality present in how trades sustain life but are themselves sustained by chance. The tailor’s scissors remind me of Atropos, one of the Greek Fates, who cuts the thread of life. Here, the tool has been passed down through history, shifting from the hands of a mythic goddess to a tradesman, yet retaining its association with mortality and destiny. The entire game board is a stage where roles of labor are played out. It evokes a deep, subconscious recognition that, like the players, they are always subject to the unpredictable laws of chance. These symbols engage us on a profound, almost primal level, reflecting humanity’s enduring relationship with labor, chance, and destiny.