Gezicht vanaf een brug bij het Entrepotdok in Amsterdam c. 1833 - 1850

This print, "Gezicht vanaf een brug bij het Entrepotdok in Amsterdam" by the Van Lier Brothers, captures the Entrepotdok, a trading area, with ships sailing along the canal. Consider the cloudscape above, a seemingly simple element, yet it evokes powerful emotions and a sense of destiny. Clouds have long served as symbols of divine presence and change, appearing in Renaissance paintings to Romantic landscapes. Think of the turbulent skies in Turner's seascapes, mirroring the sublime power of nature and humanity's emotional turmoil. These clouds draw us back to the ancient idea of 'cloud of unknowing', embodying the mysterious and unseen forces that shape our world. The continuous and recurring motifs remind us that history is never truly linear, but rather a cyclical process of remembering, reinterpreting, and re-experiencing.