Het gasthuis, ca. 1700 1690 - 1710

This print from around 1700, by Johannes van Bevoort, draws us into a world rendered in meticulous detail. The composition guides our eye from the foreground figures attending to a patient, towards the receding space filled with beds and patients. The linear perspective, though somewhat exaggerated, creates a sense of depth, drawing us into this scene. The use of hatching and cross-hatching to create shadows and volume gives the scene a stark quality. This monochrome palette, combined with the subject matter, evokes a sense of solemnity. Here, we see the hospital not merely as a place of healing, but as a structured space, organized along rational lines. The rigid order speaks to the Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason. The print invites us to reflect on the intersections between medical practice and philosophical concepts of order and human vulnerability.