Spotprent op de stinkende grachten te Den Haag, 1871 1871

This satirical print by Johan Michaël Schmidt Crans from 1871 presents a dark commentary on the canals of The Hague. Note how the elegant lady, a symbol of the city itself, is juxtaposed with the grotesque reality of the canals—filled with dead animals and bones. The title, ‘De Haagsche Stedemaagd,’ tells us she is the city virgin, yet the latin phrase suggests "she ends a beautiful woman in squalor". The image's power lies in this jarring contrast, a motif that echoes throughout art history. Consider the memento mori tradition, where beauty and decay coexist to remind us of mortality. The rats and bones are not merely depictions of filth; they are symbols, laden with historical and psychological weight. The presence of decay suggests a deeper societal anxiety, a subconscious fear of corruption and decline. This is a recurring theme, from medieval danse macabre imagery to modern anxieties about urban decay. These motifs persist because they tap into our primal fears and the collective memory of civilizations grappling with mortality and morality. The stench of the canals becomes, in essence, the stench of moral decay.