Pieter Jansz. Saenredam
Today we move to the beautiful Netherlands. This painting shows the inside of the Buurkerk in Utrecht. Several Dutch artists of the time specialized in painting church interiors, but Pieter Jansz. Saenredam was particularly innovative. He exaggerated for effect: here he has stretched the height of the columns, creating a feeling of loftiness and allowing sunlight to flood the building. This light is particularly amazing; by looking at its source, the window in the middle of the composition, we have the impression that we are standing in the middle of this church. A couple of years before Saenredam depicted it, the church was remodeled in the new, unadorned Protestant aesthetic. The walls, once multicolored, were whitewashed, and the altarpieces removed.
But look what is happening on the right... There is a boy, playing with his dog, and the other one is writing graffiti on the wall! Next to him, we see the graffiti of the horse with four riders, likely a reference to the story of the four sons of Duke Aymon, who are fleeing from Emperor Charlemagne. Some art historians think it may be a metaphor of upbringing. Other art historians think that this whole group was added on the painting by another artist, who worked with Saenredam, or it was added much later after the artist's death. Very mysterious!
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P.S. The genre of church interiors is only one of the quirks of Dutch Golden Age, an artistically rich period in history that had its glorious and dark side.