Studieblad met ruiters op straat en dieren 1884 - 1886

This graphite sketch by George Hendrik Breitner captures a series of diverse images: a street scene, a lizard, and a moth. These images, seemingly disparate, reveal a deeper, interconnected symbolism. Consider the moth, a creature of the night, often drawn to the light. This symbol has fluttered through art history, appearing in Dutch vanitas paintings as a symbol of transience. The lizard, too, has undergone metamorphosis in meaning. Once associated with resurrection in early Christian art, it later became a symbol of cunning and deceit. Breitner's sketch invites a psychoanalytic reading. The moth's attraction to light, the lizard's transformation—these images stir deep within the viewer's consciousness. They awaken collective memories of death and rebirth, illusion and reality. It reminds us that symbols are never fixed, but continually resurface, evolving with time.