South Aisle of the Church of St Bavo, Haarlem

Architecture dominates this painting, the eye encouraged to follow the dramatic upward sweep of the vaulting in this church interior. The scene takes place in the south aisle of the Church of Saint Bavo – also known as the ‘Grote Kerk’ – in Haarlem, in the Netherlands. In 1566, much of the interior decoration of the church was stripped away during what is known as ‘iconoclasm’ and, in 1578, the church was reserved for Protestant worship which favoured the kind of simple and modest decor reflected in the almost monochrome palette of this painting. The iron gates at the left of the space lead to the Baptistery, where a priest and another figure wait while a child and a group of woman make their way towards them. It has been suggested that these figures are present for a child’s baptism or perhaps – more somberly – for the funeral of a child.   

The Dutch artist Pieter Saenredam (1597-1665) painted the Church of Saint Bavo thirteen times and was later buried there. This painting is a copy of Saenredam’s original (dated 1663) in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, Scotland. Aside from the quality, an interesting difference between the paintings can be found in the coat of arms located in the highest pane of the window. This painting contains the arms of the city of Utrecht, while the Glasgow original bears those of Haarlem. Perhaps the coat of arms was specifically requested by the patron of this work.