Sint Annapoort in Dordrecht 1872

Curator: Well, doesn’t this just whisk you away to a quieter time? Carel Frederik Bendorp’s etching, "Sint Annapoort in Dordrecht," made around 1872... There's something so lovely in the details. Editor: It's evocative, certainly. But my first impression is that it’s strangely...staged? The composition is so deliberate, almost like a theater set. It makes me wonder, what sort of reality is being presented here? Curator: Perhaps reality heightened, embellished? The Sint Annapoort itself stands framed— a gateway not just through the city, but to the past itself. Look how the etching captures the light playing on the stone, making the textures so tangible, despite its stillness. And the cityscape visible through the arch lends depth but lacks the detail of the building and surrounding courtyard. Editor: True, the attention to detail is undeniable. This print comes at a time when the Netherlands were seeing increased infrastructure changes through urbanization and industrialization. So this image plays into this desire for older historic things, like this gate, which makes one think of guilds, protective walls, city limits... It's as if Bendorp captured an icon ripe with nostalgia, particularly for the rising bourgeois who may want to embrace their city. I'd wager the prints were quite popular for their living rooms! Curator: Absolutely. And don't you feel this yearning in the work itself? Look at the shadows—longing almost. There is an inscription of 'anno' over the gate adding to its romantic feel. Bendorp is not simply showing us architecture but feeling—inviting us to ponder what was, and perhaps what is lost. Editor: The ‘anno’ adds this nice antique flair and nostalgia that continues to be valued by people and artists today. We tend to sanitize and organize history by imposing clean categories but what continues to live are the narratives around objects like this print of the Annagate, each with the potential to reshape our perceptions and values. Curator: Indeed! Perhaps this isn't just an etching of a city gate; perhaps it is an invitation to open doors to memory itself. What do you think? Editor: I think that framing it as an ‘invitation to memory’ rather than a simple cityscape gets at why an image like this would have mattered, and maybe continues to do so today!