Overall study of the life of weary 1887

This pencil sketch is by Ferdinand Hodler, titled "Overall study of the life of weary". Here, we see a row of seated figures, their heads bowed in unison, portraying a shared sense of sorrow. This motif of collective grief, so powerfully rendered, resonates with images of mourning found across cultures and throughout history. Think of ancient Greek tragedies, where the chorus embodies collective suffering, or even medieval depictions of the Lamentation of Christ. The bowed head, a universal gesture of submission, is a recurring image. From religious contexts to secular ones, it embodies feelings of shame, grief, or humility. In a psychoanalytic view, this posture may reflect deep-seated feelings of powerlessness. The motif persists, evolving yet echoing through time, reminding us that, despite differing contexts, human experience, particularly suffering, is a shared and cyclical phenomenon.