Interieur van de Lutherse kerk te Beverwijk 1779

This print, "Interior of the Lutheran Church in Beverwijk," was made in 1778 by Caspar Jacobsz. Philips. It’s an etching, meaning that the artist would have used a sharp needle to draw an image on a metal plate coated with wax, then bathed the plate in acid. The acid bites into the metal where the wax has been removed, creating an incised line. This process is repeated to create different tones. In the end, the plate is inked and printed onto paper. Etching, a relatively new process at the time, allowed for the detailed and precise rendering of the church’s interior. The regularity of the lines reflects the social values of the era: reason, order, and control. The church, with its simple geometry, becomes a monument to these values. Ultimately, the print is less about the church itself and more about the power of representation. The careful and methodical process mirrors the construction of the church itself, both testaments to the industriousness of 18th-century society.