The Barkers

2023 · 50x53 cm, linocut A/p

Fashion developed, people began to wear hats, and brewers acquired a distinctive attribute in the form of a pointed, wide-brimmed hat. Some researchers believe that such a headdress could become a bait for potential clients in the street crowd. The rough wooden house attracts attention with an unusual detail in the form of a broom nailed above the entrance. In medieval Europe, merchants nailed a broom above the entrance or displayed it outside the door so that passers-by would immediately understand that this was a trading house. The widow, as befits a beer barker, beckons the smiling man with a beer mug. A young apprentice stands to the side and points the client to the door, inviting him to enter. Broom and pointed hat? Women who bait and lure man? Hmmm... We again see something too remindful of the familiar image of witches!