Ronde waterput onder een koepel met een lantaarn c. 1574

"Ronde waterput onder een koepel met een lantaarn," or "Round well under a dome with a lantern," was created by Johannes or Lucas van Doetechum. Notice how the well is centrally located in a public square. In the context of the early modern period, access to water was a communal necessity, deeply intertwined with the social fabric of daily life. Wells were the physical embodiment of shared resources. Consider the act of gathering water from a well: a task that would have historically fallen to women. The well becomes not just a source of life, but a site of labor, and a meeting place where women could exchange stories, support, and solidarity. Water is life.