Memorial Column with an Iron Hand 1811

Johann Christoph Erhard created this etching, "Memorial Column with an Iron Hand," in the early 19th century, a period of significant social and political change in Europe. Erhard's print captures a roadside scene dominated by a memorial column topped with an iron hand. The iron hand suggests themes of justice, punishment, or perhaps a memorial to a specific historical event or figure. The artist situates the monument alongside an image of peasants in the fields. A relationship between the monument, and the lives of the people who live alongside it in the German countryside, is being developed. We are encouraged to wonder who this monument speaks for, and to whom. By focusing on this monument, Erhard encourages us to consider how symbols of power and memory are embedded within the landscape and the impact of historical events on everyday lives.