Waterput in verval 1809 - 1859

Pieter de Goeje created this drawing of a well in disrepair using pen in the nineteenth century. The well, the bucket, and the broom represent the tools of domestic labor. In this context, the broom becomes a symbol for purity, cleanliness, and order, often associated with women's work. The broom appears throughout art history, not always so benignly; consider the witch astride her broomstick. In this depiction, the broom transforms from a symbol of order to one of chaos and subversion, reflecting societal anxieties about female power and the unknown. Here, however, the composition suggests something more prosaic than witchcraft, and as the title suggests, this well is in disrepair. One senses the passage of time and decay, engaging our collective memory and eliciting a powerful emotional response. Like leaves in the Sibylline books, the broom whispers of time's relentless march and its effect on man and nature.