Dekorativt, arkitektonisk udkast 1856 - 1933

Joakim Skovgaard made this architectural sketch with pencil on paper. The drawing presents a symmetrical, frontal view of what appears to be a church facade. The structure is delineated with light, tentative lines. The bareness of the support makes us focus on the articulation of form and space. The lines of the sketch suggest the basic architecture of a church. A dominant cross is framed by arches and flanked by structures resembling towers. Below, the indication of human figures places the viewer in relation to this architectural space. Skovgaard reduces the church to its basic structural and symbolic components. By stripping away ornamentation, he underscores the underlying formal qualities. He is interested in the balance of shapes, the rhythm of the arches, and the interplay of vertical and horizontal lines. The drawing, then, becomes an exercise in pure form. It is not a literal representation of a church but a study of its architectural language and the way it communicates religious meaning through shape and structure.