Ontwerp voor raam in het Noordertransept in de Dom te Utrecht c. 1934

Curator: It strikes me first as raw, unfinished. Almost like a stage set before the actors arrive, promising drama. Editor: Precisely. What you're seeing is Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst's design for a window in the north transept of Utrecht Cathedral, dating from around 1934. It’s a mixed-media drawing on paper. Curator: Utrecht Cathedral, of all places. With those rough geometric shapes and muted tones, I expected something... well, less ecclesiastical. What happened? Editor: World War II intervened, sadly, halting its planned execution. The symbolism, though, speaks volumes. See how those blues at the top seem to morph into cloud forms? Blue often represents heavenly wisdom or divine truth. Curator: Oh, yes. And those horizontal cylinders… they remind me of scrolls, ancient texts. But rendered so… bluntly. Are we meant to question what those scrolls contain? Editor: It's plausible. In Iconography, scrolls are often understood to be scriptures. Holst was incredibly concerned with conveying monumental meanings. What narratives might stone tell? What if each coloured block became a narrative of power? Curator: A deconstruction of established beliefs perhaps? I imagine the light flooding through colored panes, reshaping meaning according to the hour, the weather, the very spirit of anyone standing before it. I imagine the work intended as a vessel, not just the message. Editor: Absolutely. The cathedral’s architecture might be seen in a wider symbolic field - the very act of its lighting, through carefully arranged sections that can tell us a story of faith. Curator: So this drawing holds the ghost of an unrealized narrative, pregnant with multiple interpretations. A true artifact of intent and interruption. Editor: I agree. A study not only in sacred symbolism but also of interrupted cultural memory, its colors muted by absence. A cathedral in anticipation.