View of the Interior of the Church of St. Cunera in Rhenen (prov. Utrecht) 1644

Pieter Jansz.’s delicate drawing captures the interior of the Church of St. Cunera in Rhenen, using pen in brown and grey, brush in grey and brown, and graphite. During the Dutch Golden Age, artists like Jansz. turned their attention to the familiar spaces of their everyday lives. In his church interior, the soaring gothic architecture is rendered with a subdued palette, evoking a sense of quiet contemplation. The architecture itself tells a story of shifting religious identities. Originally Catholic, the church was repurposed for Protestant worship following the Reformation. In the stark simplicity of the church’s interior, Jansz. seems to reflect the values of the new Protestant order: austerity, order, and a direct relationship with the divine. Yet, the grandeur of the space also speaks to the complex negotiations between religious belief and cultural identity that shaped the Dutch Republic. This drawing invites us to consider how sacred spaces are not just containers of faith but also mirrors of social change and the human quest for meaning.