Gezicht op een landweg met huizen erlangs c. 1880

This is Theodoor Verstraete's etching, depicting a country road with houses, now held at the Rijksmuseum. The image is dominated by the motif of a solitary path, leading the eye into the depths of the landscape and representing life's journey. The path calls to mind other journeys across art history, most notably Caspar David Friedrich's wanderers. Here, the human figures, a parent and child, evoke the age-old theme of guidance and the passage of time. This archetype, deeply rooted in the collective unconscious, is reminiscent of the myth of Oedipus led by his daughter Antigone, blind and vulnerable, and the various representations of the blind leading the blind. The symbol of the path isn't linear; it's a cyclical return to fundamental human experiences, the challenges and continuities that surface time and time again, reflecting our innermost fears and hopes in a world that is constantly changing.