Gezicht op de Hooglandse kerk vanaf de burcht te Leiden, 1742 1750 - 1792

Curator: Here we have a fascinating cityscape by Hendrik Spilman, made between 1750 and 1792: an engraving titled "View of the Hooglandse Church from the Leiden Castle." Editor: The figures feel staged, like actors positioned in a theatrical scene. It has the feeling of 18th century opera with its elaborate backdrop. Curator: The Hooglandse Church dominates the skyline, and seeing it framed by the Burgt’s archway highlights the relationship between civic authority and religious power in Leiden at the time. How interesting that he includes an observer on top of the gate and foreground figures to witness this relation. Editor: It’s the architecture that strikes me. The Burgt gate has this stoic quality, while the church is allowed to soar into a sort of gothic, heaven-reaching glory. It also resonates on some other symbolic level. A transition, perhaps? Between enclosure and liberation, safety and exposure. Curator: I find myself thinking about what this "view" meant during Spilman’s era. Was it about control and surveillance – or about progress, a movement from enclosure toward enlightenment, especially given what was going on in Europe in terms of social upheavals at that time. The foreground figures, the well-dressed man and the elaborately skirted women, could represent different sectors of Leiden’s population contemplating the new century. The man who surveys them both with his spyglass gives me some uneasiness as well. Editor: You see social upheaval; I see permanence. The artist focused our eye on lasting symbols: faith and protection as essential and enduring. Perhaps I’m idealizing, but isn't it reassuring that, amid historical tempests, certain symbols still provide solidity and meaning? Curator: It is always a needed moment to evaluate the dominant culture’s institutions through the lens of history and question our current placement within their legacy, while understanding their effect on our present lives. Editor: An artist uses inherited symbols and cultural memory to craft an experience. That experience continues to ripple through the centuries as it gets re-seen, as we're doing here. It's all about cultural connections, isn’t it?