Weg langs een met bomen begroeide heuvel 1783 - 1853

Adrianus Serné’s etching presents us with a path winding through a wooded hill, a solitary figure accompanied by a dog. The trees, with their gnarled branches reaching skyward, evoke the ancient symbol of the Tree of Life, a motif that has appeared across cultures from the Norse Yggdrasil to the biblical Tree of Knowledge. In Serné’s rendering, these trees aren't merely botanical features, but silent witnesses to human passage. This motif of the lone wanderer, akin to Caspar David Friedrich's figures, strikes a deep chord within us. Consider how the image of a tree, once a symbol of fertility and connection to the earth, evolves across art. The image of a path, too, can be seen in myriad contexts, like the spiritual journeys depicted in medieval tapestries. The path that Serné depicts evokes a sense of introspection and the cyclical nature of existence, inviting us to reflect on our own journeys and the echoes of those who have walked before us.