Artist: Pieter Jansz. Saenredam

This is the painting that I saw and sketched in Edinburgh’s Scottish National Gallery. The use of perspective, space and height captured is wonderful. The more I sketched the painting in the gallery the more I realised it had parallels with the structures in my work.

It states on the National Gallery Scotland website that although the painting was based on lots of precise perspective drawings, Saenredam “deliberately distorted the proportions of the pillars and vault to increase the sense of monumental scale.” This decision is the reason the painting has such gravity.
Standing in front of the painting and looking straight forward, I could see the scene from the eyes of someone in the cathedral. Looking up at the painting I could really feel the sense of space and height. I’m not sure if the painting was hung at this height deliberately, since my individual height happened to cause this experience, but nevertheless it was is effective way to experience a painting.

Saenredam’s paintings of church interiors and town halls demonstrate his remarkable eye for architectural detail and his sophisticated use of linear perspective. He achieved a sensitive balance between topographical accuracy and pleasing design in his finished works, which were the result of meticulous preparation through carefully measured drawings.

National Galleries Scotland website https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/pieter-jansz-saenredam

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Digital sketches looking at these cathedral paintings. Trying to understand the shapes; why and how they work. I think it would be beneficial doing more linear sketches like these in my sketchbook to explore the shapes more. It is making me reconsider the shape of the structures in my paintings.