Schoorstenen 1857 - 1859

This is "Schoorstenen," a pencil drawing by Pierre Joseph Hubert Cuypers, and it resides here at the Rijksmuseum. Cuypers was working in a moment of resurgent nationalism in the Netherlands, and a renewed interest in the architecture of the past. As an architect, Cuypers was a leading figure in the Gothic Revival movement, which is clear from the architectural style and the precision of his draftsmanship in this sketch. But what does it mean to revive a style so deeply tied to the religious and political structures of the Middle Ages? Cuypers was very interested in questions of national identity; he worked on many church restorations, a means to connect the Netherlands' past and its future. The image before you offers a glimpse into the architectural and ideological landscapes of the 19th century, revealing how artists and architects like Cuypers grappled with questions of heritage. In this drawing, Cuypers asks us to consider how we construct our identities through space, style and history.