Toren en poorten 1840 - 1845

Johannes Tavenraat sketched Toren en poorten with a pencil on paper, at an unknown date. Tavenraat lived during a time of significant political and social transformation in the Netherlands, including French occupation and subsequent nation-building. This sketch gives us a glimpse into how the 19th-century Dutch artists perceived their national identity through architecture. These towers and gates are not merely stone and mortar; they represent a complex layering of history, power, and community. The arches and fortified structures evoke a sense of enclosure and exclusion, thus creating the boundary between inside and outside, citizen and foreigner. We can ask ourselves, how do these physical structures reflect the societal structures of Tavenraat's time? And how do they continue to shape our understanding of belonging and exclusion today? This drawing serves as a reminder of the stories embedded in the architecture around us.