Timmeren van het Behouden Huys, 1596 1615 - 1617

This anonymous engraving, ‘Timmeren van het Behouden Huys,’ made in 1596, depicts the construction of a shelter. The dominant symbols are the tools—hammers and axes—and the act of building itself, representing human ingenuity and the will to survive against the elements. The act of construction carries deep resonance. Consider the Tower of Babel, where construction symbolized human ambition challenging divine order. Here, however, construction is not about hubris but necessity. The labor is reminiscent of the cyclical acts of creation found across cultures, from the Egyptian pyramids to the Norse halls of Valhalla. The hammer, wielded with intent, echoes through time, its form and function appearing in the hands of blacksmith gods like Hephaestus or Thor. These figures represent power, craft, and the ability to shape the world. The collective, almost ritualistic, actions of the builders evoke a primal urge to create order from chaos, reflecting our enduring psychological need to shape and secure our environment. In this small engraving, we see humanity's timeless drive for survival, echoing through the ages in wood and steel.