Gezicht op de Plompe- of Dieventoren aan de Muurhuizen te Amersfoort 1849 - 1895

Editor: Here we have Willem Koekkoek's "Gezicht op de Plompe- of Dieventoren aan de Muurhuizen te Amersfoort," a pen and pencil drawing from sometime between 1849 and 1895. It’s currently held at the Rijksmuseum. The sketch feels so immediate, almost like a page ripped straight from the artist's sketchbook. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see echoes, the persistent visual motifs of Dutch urban identity being formed and reformed over time. This Plompetoren, or Dieventoren, clearly held significance, becoming a cultural symbol. Notice how the tower dominates the composition, but it is the Muurhuizen, the houses built into the old city walls, that gives us a psychological insight into the lives of the Dutch citizens who transformed defensive architecture into homes. Do you notice the absence of figures? Editor: I do, it feels so empty for a cityscape! It definitely puts the focus on the architecture. Curator: Exactly. It lends the scene a dreamlike quality, suggesting the tower and its houses represent something beyond their physical presence. Think of the Tower of Babel - verticality often reflects a psychological aspiration towards the heavens, or a reach for something just beyond grasp. Perhaps here, Koekkoek uses the tower to examine collective ambition. The imposing tower dwarfs everything around, becoming a symbolic keeper of time, memory, and the ever-shifting cultural narratives within its walls. Editor: That’s fascinating! I hadn't considered how the building itself could be a vessel for cultural memory. Curator: And it isn't just *a* building, but the tower specifically—a form with a long symbolic history. It makes me wonder what meanings future generations will find in our own architectural landmarks. Editor: It makes you consider how we are writing those narratives right now. Thank you so much!