Bedelaar en bedelares in gesprek 1760

Antoon Overlaet created this etching of two beggars in conversation around 1760. Observe the symbols of poverty and resilience: the humble walking sticks, the ragged clothes, and the worn expressions on their faces. These motifs echo across time, recalling similar figures in Bruegel's paintings or even further back to ancient depictions of wandering philosophers and prophets. The walking stick, for example, appears not just as a tool for support, but also as a symbol of pilgrimage, hardship, and the journey of life itself. Consider how this simple object, imbued with so much meaning, resonates with our shared human experience of struggle and survival. The exchange between the two figures also evokes powerful feelings of empathy, mirroring our own subconscious anxieties about fate and fortune. The fact that Overlaet chose to depict them deep in conversation reinforces the human element of reliance on others. The image reminds us that even in destitution, there is community.