Hoogaltaar in de Sint-Pauluskerk te Antwerpen 1670

This is Pieter (II) Verbruggen's rendering of the High Altar in the Saint Paul's Church in Antwerp, crafted with ink on paper. The image captures a towering altar piece, emphasizing verticality through its architectural structure and decorative embellishments. The use of line is intricate, creating depth and texture that mimics the play of light on stone and the baroque ornamentation. Verbruggen's composition draws the eye upwards, starting from the patterned floor to the ethereal figures at the apex. The altar functions as a semiotic nexus; it represents divine aspiration and the church's hierarchical structure. The linear precision conveys a sense of order and the church's ambition to manifest the divine through art. The structure invites us to consider how space is constructed and how the church uses architectural and artistic elements to communicate power and spirituality. The linear precision of the work emphasizes the Church's ambition to express the divine. How does this detailed image invite us to consider space as constructed not only physically but also ideologically?