Preekstoel en regenboog 1857 - 1859

Editor: So, this is “Preekstoel en regenboog,” or “Pulpit and Rainbow,” by Pierre Joseph Hubert Cuypers, dating from between 1857 and 1859. It’s a pencil and pen sketch. I find the composition rather quirky, almost dreamlike in its juxtaposition of elements. What do you make of it? Curator: Dreamlike is a good word. It feels like flipping through the pages of someone’s private sketchbook, a glimpse into their creative process. You have this detailed architectural sketch of what looks like a pulpit, a splash of a rainbow above it, and then this curious, almost geological form… What does the rainbow evoke for you in relation to the pulpit? Editor: I suppose it suggests hope or perhaps divine blessing upon the church? Maybe even a promise, like in the Noah story. But the rainbow looks so… tentative, almost like an afterthought. Curator: Precisely! It’s that tentativeness, that air of experimentation, that intrigues me. Cuypers was a key figure in the Gothic Revival in the Netherlands. While he is celebrated for grand architectural statements, these loose strokes are where we catch his most private thoughts, I daresay. Look at how he renders light and shadow, exploring form… It’s as if he’s thinking aloud on paper, mixing sacred symbols with architectural musings. What do you make of the form on the bottom right? Editor: It's odd! My best guess would be that he was working with how that design of ceiling might fit with the shape and design of the church architecture and decoration. Maybe this shows Cuypers as being less of a strictly by-the-book architect, more willing to test new forms. Curator: Exactly! It seems as if these lines hint at the possibility of innovation to move towards creating new architecture rooted in old foundations, just as the sketch sits lightly on toned paper. I now see that I had expected an exercise of dry historical drawing. Editor: Well, now I appreciate it for how revealing sketches can be for learning about an artist’s inspiration.