Gezicht te Oosterland 1752

Maria Feitama captured this vista of Oosterland in a pen and wash drawing. Observe the stepped gables on the facades of the buildings. They are visual echoes of ancient ziggurats, architectural forms that once touched the heavens. These stepped shapes reappear in various guises across time. Look at Gothic cathedrals, their spires and buttresses striving upwards. These share a visual grammar. One could propose that these recurring forms tap into a collective striving for transcendence. The gable’s stepped silhouette is echoed in the ascent of a mountain, in the striving for upward mobility or social status. Each step is a layer of memory. Consider how such symbols morph, yet retain fragments of their original power, resonating within our cultural memory.