Brief aan Pieter Haverkorn van Rijsewijk Possibly 1904

This is "Brief aan Pieter Haverkorn van Rijsewijk," by Agathe Wegerif-Gravestein. At the top left, we see a wax seal in red ink, depicting the artist’s initials in an intertwined monogram. This type of personal emblem is an echo of medieval heraldry, where symbols held deep familial and social meaning. Consider how family crests were not merely decorative; they were declarations of identity, lineage, and allegiance. Similarly, the artist imprints her identity onto the correspondence, marking it with a symbol of personal significance. This act of sealing is a potent gesture of claiming and authenticating, a way of safeguarding the message within. It evokes a sense of intimacy, where a private mark becomes a public declaration of ownership and intent. It's fascinating how, even in the age of mass communication, these personal symbols retain the power to evoke deep psychological connections, reminding us of the enduring human need to mark, claim, and leave our individual imprints on the world.