Fotoreproductie van een schilderij van de Nieuwe Kerk te Amsterdam 1894 - 1915

This is a photograph of a painting of the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam by Koop Remmerts Semplonius. It's a faded sepia tone, like looking at a memory. The photograph captures a painting, but the painting itself is trying to capture a real place. This layering of representation is interesting. You can almost smell the oils, even though it’s a photo. The detail in the architectural rendering is incredible. Look at how each brick is articulated in the building to the right, yet the sky is just a hazy wash, which suggests something about the artist's priorities. I find my eye drawn to the figures in the foreground. They seem to be frozen in time, like characters in a play. There is an echo of Canaletto here, or maybe Guardi. It’s interesting to think about how artists look to the past as they try to capture the present.