Kapiteel met bladmotief en rolwerk 1837 - 1921

This pencil drawing shows a design for a capital with leaf motifs, made by Pierre Cuypers at an unknown date. Cuypers was a key figure in the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival movement in the Netherlands. The Gothic Revival was a broad cultural phenomenon that expressed itself through architectural design. The style became popular in the Netherlands and beyond thanks to the writings of theorists such as John Ruskin. The movement’s proponents believed that the pointed arch and other features of medieval Gothic architecture were particularly suited to the expression of Christian values. As such, Gothic Revival became the style of choice for the design of new churches. The study of drawings like this, alongside an understanding of the social conditions that shaped Cuypers’ career as a church architect, allows us to understand the public role of art and architecture in the late nineteenth century.