Twee lopende mannen en een vrouw dragen voorwerpen Possibly 1650 - 1654

Harmen ter Borch rendered this artwork depicting three figures carrying objects in 1650. The motifs of carrying and burden-bearing are central to human experience, evoking themes of labor, sustenance, and the cycles of life. The most compelling of the three is the man carrying a barrel on his shoulders. This archetypal image echoes throughout art history, conjuring ancient Atlas carrying the celestial sphere. We see this in the Hellenistic sculpture of Atlas, the Farnese Atlas. Yet, the barrel-carrier, with its mundane burden, is no god. Instead, this everyday figure embodies the weight of worldly concerns. It reminds us of the physical and psychological burdens of existence, the constant effort required to sustain life and maintain societal structures. This motif, deeply ingrained in our collective unconscious, resurfaces across time, each iteration carrying echoes of its predecessors. The image serves as a constant reminder of our shared human condition, the continuous cycle of labor and sustenance that binds us across generations.