Gezicht op de Dam te Amsterdam bij schemer en regen c. 1886 - 1903

George Hendrik Breitner’s sketch of the Dam Square in Amsterdam captures a scene shrouded in twilight and rain. The barely visible outline of figures and architectural elements evoke a deep sense of melancholy. This veiled depiction of urban life reminds me of the ancient motif of the 'shadow self,' a concept recurring across cultures, from Plato's cave to Jung's psychoanalysis. The obscured forms mirror our own hidden aspects, those parts of ourselves we struggle to acknowledge, now projected onto the city itself. Throughout art history, rain has often symbolized cleansing, renewal, but also sorrow. In Dutch Golden Age painting, atmospheric perspective blurred details to suggest distance and a melancholic mood, a precursor to Breitner’s impressionistic rendering of the Dam. Breitner has tapped into something elemental: the collective human experience of alienation, a universal theme.