Exterieur van een kerk met maaswerk in de vensters 1849 - 1895

Willem Koekkoek created this pencil drawing of a church exterior sometime in the 19th century. It's a quick study, made with very simple materials: pencil on paper. But think for a moment about the building itself. The church would have been made by laborers, including stone carvers, glaziers, carpenters, and masons, all deploying their skills in the service of faith. You can see the elaborate stonework of the windows, carefully rendered by Koekkoek’s hand. It has a crisp, precise quality that only comes with long hours of practice. Yet, this drawing itself required many hours of practice. It reflects Koekkoek’s understanding of architectural form, but also suggests the intense labor required to produce these buildings. The drawing then is a double tribute, both to the making of art and to the making of architecture.