Reproductie van drie ontwerpen ter decoratie van een reliekschrijn before 1864

Curator: Here we have "Reproductie van drie ontwerpen ter decoratie van een reliekschrijn" – "Reproduction of three designs for the decoration of a reliquary," rendered by Franz Kellerhoven sometime before 1864. They're presented as a coloured pencil drawing and print in an open book. Immediately, I feel drawn into a world of sacred geometry and vibrant whispers. Editor: There’s a curious formality to the shapes juxtaposed with the looseness of the drawing. What strikes me most is the attempt to revive and understand what's gone before - how patterns accrue emotional weight by being repeated and revered over time. These fragments, do they echo in your own creative soul? Curator: Profoundly. As an artist, these medieval decorative-art echoes feel inherently connected to what might be called a personal sacred space – an inner temple that thrives on layered meaning and ornamental storytelling. The corner design, like a fragmented memory, contrasts vividly with the two shield-like forms below. The colour palette itself suggests a contained fervor, doesn't it? Editor: The palette does, precisely. Look closely; the recurring fleur-de-lis motif in the 'shield' designs—aren't those potent declarations of divine authority? They signal power structures of their time, adapted and interpreted, which were in themselves a sort of continuity. Their formal qualities make them read less 'shielding' and more of what they adorns…which speaks to a desire of protection but the showing, rather than function, of power. Curator: Absolutely, it’s ornamentation designed to instill awe and a sense of the eternal. There’s something hypnotic in the rhythm, promising protection, not from the physical world necessarily, but the existential. But these forms, extracted, what happens to their purpose and ability? What does their symbolism become once their setting shifts? Editor: Removed from their reliquary context, they transform into design elements; emblems abstracted from devotional intention into historical artefacts. Though isn’t that just another form of preservation - perhaps not in a sacred context, but to preserve something of its material qualities? That medieval "feel"? Curator: I think you're right. Looking at these designs stirs something deep, not just regarding history and symbolism, but within our own impulse toward reverence. Editor: An attempt to touch the untouchable by recreating that memory through design. An act of devotion in its own right, I think.