Det indre af kirken St. Sablon i Bryssel. 1880s

Curator: Welcome. We're standing before an evocative print by Adolph Kittendorff entitled "Det indre af kirken St. Sablon i Bryssel" from the 1880s, now in the collection of the SMK. It's a lithograph depicting the interior of the Saint Sablon Church in Brussels. Editor: My first impression? A play of light and shadow. The verticality of the columns paired with the echoing arches really draw the eye upward. It’s cool, somber, almost austere in its geometry. Curator: Yes, the architectonic language here is paramount. Consider the symbolic weight of arches, vaults, and columns--each supporting faith and reflecting divine geometry. Saint Sablon represents Gothic architecture's aspiration towards transcendence. These physical elements are representative of our human impulse to connect with a spiritual other. Editor: Precisely. And Kittendorff captures this vertical drive brilliantly using sharp, distinct lines. Look how each line both defines form and directs our sightline toward an implied vanishing point, thus capturing a sense of vastness despite the limited palette. He also uses atmospheric perspective, notice the details of the foreground verses what details disappear to our sight toward the middle and background of this composition. Curator: Gothic cathedrals were intentionally designed to induce awe, to connect the worshiper to a historical continuum of belief. Saint Sablon with its soaring lines, stained glass that would’ve cast the interior in an array of colors, served that specific function. Think of its presence as an emblem of medieval communal identity, built quite literally upon the bedrock of shared belief. Editor: The subtle variations in the lines—some dark and resolute, others fragile and light—create not only depth but also imbue the lithograph with a visual and a somatic experience of being inside the grand space. The pillars create this sort of repetition, acting almost as musical bar lines in time creating this movement in time through space. Curator: A fascinating observation that merges music with structural and symbolic expression! This visual rendering of a physical space truly embodies how faith and form coalesced during this historical era. Editor: Agreed. The deliberate use of line, the stark contrast, all combine to translate a spiritual ambition into a palpable aesthetic experience. Curator: Indeed, a powerful encapsulation of not only architectural design but also the beliefs it served to represent.