Gezicht op de Elbe bij Altona, met vissersschepen en badgasten Possibly 1907 - 1909

Carel Nicolaas Storm van 's-Gravesande sketched this view of the Elbe near Altona with graphite, capturing a scene teeming with life along the shore. The boats, both fishing vessels and those carrying passengers, immediately call to mind the ancient symbol of the ship as a vessel of souls, traversing the waters between life and death. We find echoes of this in ancient Egyptian funerary boats intended to ferry souls, and even in the Ship of Fools, where the vessel represents humanity adrift, searching for meaning. The depiction of figures wading in the water is also a potent symbol. Water, here, is not merely a backdrop but a space of purification and renewal, a theme that courses through baptismal rites and mythical immersions in sacred rivers. Consider how these motifs, seemingly simple observations of daily life, ripple through time. Their repeated use shapes a collective understanding, a cultural memory, which we can see and feel on a subconscious level.