Biechtstoelen in de Sint-Michielskerk in Leuven 1866 - 1870

Jules Hippolyte Quéval made this stereo card of the confessionals in the Sint-Michielskerk in Leuven using photography sometime in the mid-19th century. This was a period of significant religious and social change in Europe, when the influence of the Catholic Church was both reasserting itself and being challenged. Quéval’s image captures the architecture of confession – a practice deeply entwined with the negotiation of moral and social identities. The confessionals themselves are imposing structures, reflecting the power dynamic inherent in the act of seeking absolution. What stories of gender, class, and personal struggle do these spaces hold? The photograph invites us to consider the role of the Church as a social institution, and its complex relationship with individual conscience and societal norms. It makes me think about how people sought solace, guidance, and perhaps control within these carved wooden confines.