Gezicht op de noordzijde van het Spui te Amsterdam met de Gedempte Begijnensloot c. 1900 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner sketched this view of the Spui in Amsterdam with graphite. The windows here, those quadrangular eyes staring out from the facade, recall the ancient Roman oculus, the all-seeing eye. Consider the development of this architectural feature, evolving from a simple opening to let in light, to the grand, ornate rose windows of Gothic cathedrals. In those religious settings, the window symbolizes divine light, a portal to spiritual understanding. Yet, here in Breitner's sketch, the windows are mundane, domestic, and human in scale. There is, perhaps, a psychological weight in the repetition of these forms. The grid pattern evokes feelings of confinement or the regulated nature of urban existence. It is as though the collective memory of religious symbolism is subconsciously evoked, creating tension between the sacred and the everyday. The urban landscape is full of these resurfacing symbols.