Het verbranden van de vrijheidsboom te Breda na het vertrek van de Fransen, april 1793 Possibly 1793 - 1801

Jacobus Buys created this drawing in April 1793, depicting the burning of a Liberty Tree in Breda after the French were ousted. The tree, once a symbol of revolutionary ideals, is engulfed in flames, signaling a violent rejection of the changes it once represented. The destruction of symbols is as old as symbols themselves. Think of the many instances in which idols of past religions are destroyed to impose a new regime of representation. Here, the burning of the tree suggests not just a return to the old order, but a cleansing ritual, purging the foreign ideology of revolution through fire. The figures around the blaze, some in distress, highlight the collective emotional experience, a public acting-out of a subconscious desire to purify and restore. Yet, history shows us that symbols are never truly destroyed. The ideas they represent may lie dormant, only to re-emerge in altered forms. Even in its destruction, the Liberty Tree becomes a potent symbol, reminding us of the cyclical nature of history.