Man aan de telefoon c. 1925s

This sketch of a man speaking on the telephone, now housed in the Rijksmuseum, is by Isaac Israels. Look closely, and observe the man with the telephone receiver pressed to his ear. The telephone itself is a potent symbol of modernity, echoing the ancient desire to transcend spatial boundaries. Consider the winged messenger Hermes in antiquity or even smoke signals used by indigenous peoples to convey messages across long distances. The telephone extends our voice, bridging distances in ways previously unimaginable. In ancient Roman portraiture, gestures and objects often signified status and power. Similarly, here, the telephone could be seen as an emblem of progress, and a sign of the era's rapid technological advancement. The act of speaking itself, a fundamental expression of human connection, takes on new dimensions when mediated by this device. We are reminded of the enduring human quest for connection.