Het afdanken van de waardgelders te Utrecht, 1618 1855 - 1857

Jan Frederik Christiaan Reckleben made this print of the dismissal of the waardgelders in Utrecht in 1618. The composition, almost architectural in its precision, presents a scene dominated by horizontal and vertical lines, structuring the square and its surrounding buildings. The figures are arranged in receding planes, drawing the eye from the detailed foreground to the more diffuse background, yet their presence is subservient to the overall structural clarity. Here, Reckleben seems less interested in narrative drama and more in the semiotic interplay between space, form, and the implied social order. The linear perspective, while technically proficient, serves less to create an illusion of depth and more to reinforce the grid-like organization of the scene. It's as though the artist uses the event as a pretext to explore the formal relationships between line, space, and representation itself. The print becomes not just a depiction of a historical event but a study in the abstraction of form.