Boslaan tussen Rozendaal en Moyland 1846

Johannes Tavenraat sketched this drawing, titled 'Boslaan tussen Rozendaal en Moyland,' in the 19th century, capturing a road flanked by trees. The avenue, a motif as old as civilization, is not merely a path but a symbol. Think of the Roman roads, arteries of power and control, or the tree-lined avenues of Versailles, designed to impress with order and perspective. The ordered lines of trees, here, evoke the 'Via Triumphalis,' the road of triumph, yet stripped of its pomp. The avenue leads the eye into the distance, inviting contemplation. Consider its recurrence in art, from Claude Lorrain's idealized landscapes to Van Gogh's cypress-lined paths. The psychoanalytic reading sees in such paths a symbol of life's journey, fraught with choices and uncertainties. The avenue promises direction, but its end remains unseen, a metaphor for our fleeting existence.