Gevangenpoort te Den Haag 1827 - 1853

Joannes Willem Vos created this print of Gevangenpoort in Den Haag, capturing a foreboding gate that once served as a prison. The gate, or ‘poort’ in Dutch, symbolizes not just a physical barrier, but also confinement and transition. This imagery resonates with the ‘porta inferi’ or gates of the underworld, a motif found in ancient mythologies. Think of the gates of Hades, guarded by Cerberus, or the depiction of the passage through the afterlife in ancient Egyptian art. The gate is a psychological threshold, representing fear, judgment, and the unknown. This symbolic representation of anxiety and anticipation taps into our collective memory. Throughout history, gates appear time and again in art and literature as metaphors for the most profound turning points in our lives. They resurface, evolve, and take on new meanings.