Verwoesting van het douanehuisje bij de Schreierstoren te Amsterdam, 1813 1847 - 1849

This print, made by Johannes Christiaan d' Arnaud Gerkens, captures the destruction of a customs house in Amsterdam in 1813. Notice the figures dancing gleefully amidst the chaos, embodying a spirit of liberation. Dance, here, is more than just movement; it's a primal expression of freedom, a release from the constraints of foreign rule. The image reverberates with the ancient symbolism of dance as a form of ecstatic release. Think of the Bacchic rituals of ancient Greece, where dance was used to break free from societal norms and connect with a deeper, more instinctual self. The act of tearing down the customs house mirrors the iconoclasm of past eras, a symbolic destruction of oppressive symbols. This collective effervescence taps into a deep well of human emotion, a longing for autonomy and self-determination that transcends time and place, reminding us of humanity's perpetual dance between order and chaos.