Gezicht op de kerk van Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes te Parijs 1655

Curator: This drawing, dating from 1655, offers us a cityscape of Paris. It’s entitled "Gezicht op de kerk van Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes te Parijs" and was rendered by Matthäus Merian the Younger. Editor: There’s a melancholic feel to it. Pale colors, a distant sky… the church looms large, but somehow feels fragile against that backdrop. Almost as if the artist captured a dream fading as he woke up, perhaps due to seeing some smoke signals rising to the sky. Curator: The architecture does dominate the composition. Note the Baroque style with its emphasis on grandeur, expressed here in the Church's facade. The delicate rendering of architectural detail provides us an insightful glimpse of Paris at that moment in history. Editor: What intrigues me is the everyday scene happening on the ground, just in front of the brick wall: little figures chatting, maybe trading goods. It brings life to what could otherwise be a rigid architectural study. The color is muted and I wonder what stories these people carry. I mean...who were they? What did they dream? What made them laugh and cry? It makes me think that even stone has witnessed all of this. Curator: Indeed. By using drawing, printmaking, etching, and even pen, Merian achieved a rather intriguing interplay between detail and light, but most importantly shadow that really captures this interesting period that he lived in. The use of colour contributes a particular atmosphere. It isn’t merely documentary; the washes imbue the work with emotional tone, a meditation on time and place. Editor: Absolutely. It is a visual poem about a place that exists both in reality and memory and perhaps that smoke in the horizon adds some interesting touch, it becomes a reflection of our fleeting existence and history in progress. Very interesting, right? Curator: Certainly. Its structure and subtle emotionality make this work so deeply moving. Editor: Yes. Definitely something that deserves pondering.