Gezicht over het Singel in Amsterdam, op de achtergrond de nieuwe Lutherse kerk c. 1860 - 1875

This photograph captures a view over the Singel in Amsterdam, with the New Lutheran Church rising in the background. The dominant spire, an architectural echo of religious aspiration, points skyward, its form reverberating through time. Consider the obelisk form. From ancient Egypt, where it symbolized solar power and rebirth, to its appropriation in European architecture as a sign of authority and divine connection. The spire in this image inherits that lineage, a visual assertion of spiritual and cultural dominance. Even the masts of the ships, clustered in the foreground, mimic this upward thrust. Their reflections shimmering in the water create a duality, a mirrored world where the earthly meets the ethereal. This visual echo is not accidental. It speaks to a deep-seated human desire to bridge the gap between the material world and the realm of the divine, constantly reaching, evolving.