Gezicht op het Pesthuis en Sint-Elisabethgasthuis te Alkmaar 1736 - 1746

Editor: This is "Gezicht op het Pesthuis en Sint-Elisabethgasthuis te Alkmaar" by Leonard Schenk, created sometime between 1736 and 1746. It's an engraving, a cityscape. There's something very ordered and serene about the way the buildings and figures are placed; it gives off a feeling of calm, almost detachment. How do you interpret this work? Curator: The detachment you feel is palpable. Consider the dual function indicated in its title and inscription. “Pesthuis” refers to a plague house, and "Sint-Elisabethgasthuis" a hospital. While the figures seem peacefully coexisting in the streetscape, the image evokes complex memories of disease and care. Notice the church-like structure; it’s visually imposing. Religious symbolism would likely have provided a strong psychological support during times of plague, wouldn't you agree? Editor: That's a good point! It is easy to look at the image and only see the serenity of a historic street view and to gloss over how places for sickness and healing were actually central parts of the town's activity. Do you think that it makes any statements about attitudes towards sickness or towards faith? Curator: Attitudes toward sickness were obviously quite different. The plague was understood as a punishment or test, but note how integrated it is within the visual framework. It reflects, perhaps, the normalization of death. Churches and hospitals – sacred and secular healing – existing in symbiotic tension. Perhaps faith isn’t simply hope but social architecture within times of turmoil. What do you take away from this new view? Editor: I see what you mean; there’s almost a stoic acceptance embedded in its placid representation, that the architecture of faith and medicine represent an attempt to exert some social control when the plague felt so out of control. Curator: Precisely. This visual record now holds many layers of memory.