Gezicht op een groep onbekende personen in een kring voor een hanengevecht met in het midden twee onbekende mannen met hanen in hun handen before 1897

This photogravure by Christiaan Johan Neeb captures a circle of onlookers fixated on a cockfight. The focal point is the two figures holding roosters. These birds, symbols of virility and aggression, are here turned into gladiators. The motif of the cockfight is ancient, reaching back to the arenas of classical antiquity. Recall the mosaic from Pompeii, where a similar scene unfolds. But consider how the meaning has shifted: once, perhaps a ritualistic contest tied to the cycles of nature, now it’s a spectacle of gambling and brutality. There's something deeply unsettling in this image. A primal urge is revealed, a fascination with dominance and submission that seems to reside within us. It is as if the collective memory of past eras surfaces, reminding us of the darker aspects of human nature. This cycle—from ritual to entertainment, from symbolic representation to raw display—is the pulse of cultural memory. These symbols resurface, transformed yet connected to their origins, echoing through time.