Gezicht op de Waalse Kerk en het Sint-Jorishof te Amsterdam 1726

This print captures the Waalse Kerk and Sint-Jorishof in Amsterdam, rendered with delicate lines by an anonymous hand. Note the facade of the French Church, crowned with a modest steeple. Steeples, throughout history, have served as more than mere architectural features. Rising from Gothic cathedrals to simple village churches, they symbolize humanity’s reaching towards the divine. Consider the Tower of Babel—an early manifestation of this impulse, though born of hubris rather than piety. The steeple's presence here evokes the collective yearning for transcendence. It echoes through time, a visual motif that reappears in various cultural contexts, from the minarets of Islamic mosques to the obelisks of ancient Egypt, each adapted to reflect its own era's spiritual aspirations. In each iteration, the form persists, shaped and reshaped by cultural memory, an echo of our shared, subconscious desire to connect with something beyond ourselves.