Landschap met een kerk, op de koorzijde gezien 1621 - 1672

Curator: I’m immediately drawn to the etching's hushed quality; it's quiet and still, like a captured moment of rural peace. Editor: This is Landschap met een kerk, op de koorzijde gezien, or Landscape with a Church, Seen from the Choir Side. It was created sometime between 1621 and 1672 by François Collignon, working in the Baroque style. I see more than just "rural peace", though. Curator: What catches your eye then? Editor: Churches represented so much more than just a religious institution, especially when created and viewed during Collignon’s era, a period of political and religious turbulence. Its steadfast presence in this work raises many questions. How does the artist negotiate the intersection between religious doctrine, state power and local identity here? Curator: The visual language is striking, even without a deep dive into political theory. The church is rendered with a kind of solidity, its tower piercing the sky, which contrasts starkly with the looser treatment of the surrounding nature. The stark linearity might represent the rigidity of religious dogma, especially given what we know of religious conflicts from this period. The dark lines around the church almost give the sense of imprisonment, like it’s cut off. Editor: I am not sure I entirely agree; I look at the cross atop the tower, a symbol so often employed, not just in a spiritual, but in a culturally embedded, social, even a moral sense; and the very specific composition—we see the back, the “choir side”, instead of a direct entrance as symbolic. What is kept away from us, what’s revealed? The artist is encouraging you to question where this church is in relationship to both people and power. It has that effect still today. Curator: A fitting lens to view this work—as an assertion and interrogation of faith, of history, of power and the intersectional and lingering effect. Editor: Indeed, a fascinating testament to the artist’s visual and cultural acuity during such turmoil.