Schleusentor bei einer Kirche, dabei ein Zollhaus 

Johannes Huibert Prins made this watercolor and pen and ink drawing of a Schleusentor, or lock gate, near a church and customs house. The artist's choice of watercolor is significant: traditionally favored for preparatory sketches or landscapes, its translucent quality allows for soft depictions of light and atmosphere. Here, Prins uses it to capture a bustling scene of commerce and daily life. The architectural details of the church, the customs house, and the lock gate itself are rendered with precision, while the figures are sketched with loose strokes, alluding to the comings and goings of ordinary people and the transportation of goods. The materiality of the scene – the stone of the buildings, the wood of the lock gate, and the various textures of clothing and goods – is evoked through the artist's skillful manipulation of the medium. Prins invites us to consider how this place was not only a site of trade but a nexus of social interactions.