Preekstoel met engelen 1790

This is an engraving of a ‘Preekstoel met engelen’ or Pulpit with Angels made by an anonymous artist. It depicts the design for an elevated pulpit, a structure historically central to religious spaces, from which sermons were delivered. Consider the role of these pulpits, particularly during periods of religious reform and conflict. They were stages for powerful oratory, places where ideas took flight and social identities were affirmed or challenged. The presence of angels is not merely decorative; it embodies a symbolic and emotional link between the divine and the human. These angelic figures, literally holding up the architecture of religious teaching, might provoke us to consider how representation can shape our beliefs, and how power is often constructed on the backs of idealized or symbolic figures. How might the combination of religious authority and architectural design influence personal and collective experiences of faith?