Zittende jongen, van achteren gezien 1801 - 1873

Pieter George Westenberg rendered this drawing of a seated boy, viewed from behind, with pencil and colored chalk. The Rückenfigur—a figure seen from the back—invites the viewer to step into the subject's shoes, sharing their perspective and perhaps their solitude. The Romantic era embraced this motif to evoke introspection. Consider Caspar David Friedrich’s wanderers, dwarfed by monumental landscapes, echoing a similar theme of humanity's place in the vastness of nature. Across cultures, this pose embodies contemplation and a quest for understanding; the act of turning away is not one of dismissal but a pathway to deeper reflection. It touches on our collective memory, engaging a deep, subconscious recognition of shared human experiences—longing, introspection, the search for meaning. The enduring presence of the Rückenfigur serves as a reminder of the cyclical nature of human emotion.