Ontwerp voor een glas-in-loodraam met als thema 'De Rust' 1923 - 1924

Antoon Derkinderen drafted this design for a stained glass window, titled 'The Rest', during a period when the Netherlands was undergoing rapid industrialization and urbanization. Derkinderen, influenced by the Symbolist movement, sought to express deeper spiritual and emotional truths through his art, but his own social position was complicated. Born into a middle-class family, he navigated the art world with a degree of privilege, yet his work often reflects a yearning for simpler, more authentic ways of life that weren't based on social structures. The theme of 'rest' in this design seems to respond to this cultural moment of change, where anxieties about modernity and the loss of traditional values were prevalent. It presents us with a narrative that positions rest as not just physical inactivity but also a state of spiritual and mental ease, something deeply desired in a world that was becoming increasingly complex and demanding. The design encourages us to consider how rest—or the lack thereof—is distributed unevenly across society, and to recognize it as a fundamental human need.