Ontwerpen voor geïllustreerde regels van het Benedicite 1857 - 1859

Pierre Joseph Hubert Cuypers made this design for illustrated rules of the Benedicite. It's executed with graphite on paper, humble materials for what would have been an important symbolic and educational object. Looking closely, you can see the light touch of the graphite, creating an ethereal quality, especially in the detailed renderings of animals. The medium allows for corrections and flexibility, and the way that Cuypers used line and form, gives a sense of how these images were meant to translate into more permanent, perhaps illuminated, forms. The graphite offers the initial blueprint, a glimpse into the hand of the artist, and their design. The choice of graphite is significant; it is a readily available material, associated with preliminary sketches and drafts. Cuypers engages in established artistic conventions, while hinting at the labor-intensive processes of medieval manuscript production that he surely admired. This drawing encourages us to consider the distinctions between 'high art' and 'craft' and appreciate the skill, design, and time involved in the production of visual culture in the 19th century.