Landschap met drie figuren met een ezel op een pad 1725 - 1763

This is Quentin Pierre Chedel’s ‘Landscape with Three Figures with a Donkey on a Path’, an etching. At first glance, it presents an idyllic pastoral scene, but let us delve deeper into the symbolic weight of its figures. The donkey here, a beast of burden, recalls its ancient associations with both humility and folly. The three figures accompanying the donkey evoke the age-old motif of companionship on a journey, a theme resonant across cultures, from the biblical Magi to wandering philosophers. Consider how the image of a group journeying together reappears throughout art history, each time imbued with the specific anxieties and aspirations of its age. This motif carries a profound psychological charge, tapping into our collective memories of wandering, seeking, and finding solace in shared experience. It is a symbol of continuous re-emergence, an echo resonating across the ages.