Koorhek in de Sint-Janskathedraal te 's-Hertogenbosch before 1889

This image captures the choir screen in the Sint-Janskathedraal, crafted sometime in the past by anonymous hands. The screen features rows of balusters that divide the sacred space from the everyday world. These vertical bars are not merely architectural; they echo a primal human impulse to demarcate, to create boundaries between the sacred and the profane. Think of the veils in ancient temples or the rood screens in medieval churches. This act of separation is a universal gesture. In ancient Greece, similar barriers were used in mystery cults, concealing the inner sanctum from the uninitiated. Over time, the impulse remains, yet the symbols evolve. The cool, orderly lines speak to a desire for spiritual order, but what do they conceal? A psychoanalytic view might suggest these barriers reflect our subconscious need to protect sacred inner selves from the intrusions of the outer world. The baluster, initially a simple structural element, thus gains layers of cultural meaning, a testament to the enduring human need to define, protect, and elevate the spiritual realm, generation after generation.