Interior of the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam, Jan Goeree (1670 – 1731)

Jan Goeree (Middelburg 1670 – Amsterdam 1731)
Interior of the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam (c. 1724)

Medium
Red chalk for the architecture, pen and black ink, grey wash on paper; composition reversed in preparation for the print.

Size
25 × 17.5 cm

Watermark
Hunting horn, Churchill 318 (dated 1724).

Provenance
Private collection, France

Context & Attribution
Trained in the studio of Gérard de Lairesse, Goeree ranks among the finest Dutch engravers of the early eighteenth century, famed for his architectural views of Amsterdam. The present drawing is a preparatory study for the print Interior of the Nieuwe Kerk in the Rijksmuseum (RP-P-1905-462); the engraving—only slightly larger (276 × 176 mm including inscription)—faithfully follows the reversed composition of this sheet.

Subject
In the centre of the Gothic nave, five bearers haul a catafalque toward a freshly dug grave—an homage to the naval heroes often interred in the Nieuwe Kerk. Such funerary imagery, familiar from Dutch painting (cf. Emanuel de Witte, 1657, Timken Museum), evokes the vanity of earthly life.

Technical Analysis
Goeree’s pairing of red chalk for the architecture with pen for the figures reveals his working method: the chalk allowed the artist to take a counter-proof that restored the architecture to its proper orientation, while the figures—drawn directly in ink—could still be repositioned before the design was transferred to the copper plate.

Place within the Oeuvre
Drawings of church interiors by Goeree are rare: only two other preparatory sheets (Oude Kerk) survive in the Victoria & Albert Museum (inv. D.379-1887, D.380-1887), and just a handful have appeared on the market (Sotheby’s, London, 29 April 2014). This scarcity, together with full documentation (watermark, matching print, museum comparanda), gives the sheet particular importance.

Bibliography & Related Works
W. A. Churchill, Watermarks in Paper…, Amsterdam 1935, p. 318 (hunting horn).

Jan Goeree, Interior of the Nieuwe Kerk, engraving, Rijksmuseum, RP-P-1905-462.

Jan Goeree, two views of the Oude Kerk, preparatory drawings, V&A, D.379-1887 & D.380-1887.

Sotheby’s, London, 29 April 2014, lots of Goeree church interiors.

Emanuel de Witte, Interior of the Nieuwe Kerk, 1657, Timken Museum of Art.

Critical Commentary
This sheet distils Goeree’s graphic virtuosity: a majestic elevation arises from a sparse web of red-chalk lines, while the incisive funerary vignette animates the scene without disturbing the nave’s solemnity. Through its documented preparatory role, original mix of media, and emblematic Dutch subject, the drawing offers a crucial window onto the creative process of a late Golden Age draughtsman-engraver.