Gezicht op de Sint-Catharinakapel te Lemiers 1896

This photograph of the Sint-Catharinakapel in Lemiers was taken in the Netherlands by an anonymous photographer working for Monumentenzorg. Monumentenzorg, the Dutch heritage agency, was and still is responsible for the preservation of national monuments. The image serves as a record, but it also tells us something about the way buildings like this one were perceived in Dutch society. In the late 19th century, there was growing interest in preserving historical buildings, but also, a developing consensus about what the Dutch nation was and how its identity could be represented in particular architectural forms. What did this church mean to people at the time? To understand this image better, we might research the photographic practices of Monumentenzorg, the architectural history of the Netherlands, and the relationship between preservation and nationalism. This would help us understand the social conditions that shaped this image.