Fotoreproductie van een schilderij van het middenschip en koor van de Mariakerk in Utrecht door Pieter Jansz. Saenredam 1900 - 1914

Editor: Okay, so here we have a gelatin silver print from somewhere between 1900 and 1914, which is a reproduction of a painting by Pieter Jansz. Saenredam titled "Fotoreproductie van een schilderij van het middenschip en koor van de Mariakerk in Utrecht." It has this gorgeous, almost haunting feel. What strikes you most when you look at this print? Curator: Haunting is spot on. I see layers of time. We have Saenredam, already looking back at the medieval church with a historian’s eye, distilling its essence, almost stripping it bare of ornamentation in his signature style. Then we have the early 20th-century photographer, using this new technology to capture Saenredam's vision, adding another layer of interpretation. Doesn’t it make you wonder what was "lost in translation" between the church itself, the painting, and this photo? And, ultimately, what we bring to it now, in our time? Editor: That’s fascinating, the way you describe it as a chain of interpretations! The starkness of the architecture comes through so clearly, even with the photograph's aged quality. Curator: Exactly. There's a quiet reverence, isn't there? Saenredam was all about capturing light and space. Look at how the photographer managed to translate that. Can you almost feel the cold stone and the echoes in the high ceiling? Editor: Absolutely, there's a definite chill! Considering the church doesn't exist anymore, this print, based on Saenredam's painting, feels like a double act of preservation. I suppose it makes you ponder what’s worth remembering, right? Curator: Right. Or perhaps, how our memories themselves become works of art, continually reinterpreted by the light of each new day. Editor: That’s… beautifully put.