Fotoreproductie van ontwerptekening met boerinnen en koeien voor glas-in-loodraam door Richard Roland Holst 1909 - 1914

This photostatic reproduction by Cornelis Albertus Deul captures Richard Roland Holst’s design for a stained glass window, using photography, a decidedly modern medium, to document a design intended for a traditional craft form. The materiality here is interesting. Stained glass, of course, involves the skilled manipulation of colored glass, cut and leaded together to create intricate images. Holst's design depicts a pastoral scene of farm work with women and cows, and a horizon of fields. The labor of the farm is captured in this moment of milk production, echoing the labor of production involved in the window itself. By reproducing this design through photography, Deul flattens the dimensionality and material richness of the intended stained glass. But the photographic reproduction also serves a crucial purpose. It makes Holst’s design accessible, allowing it to be shared and studied, and preserved as a historical artifact. This speaks to a shift in how we value both fine art and craft.