Pieter Jansz Saenredam

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Interior of the St. Martin's Dom in Utrecht, by Saenredam

Pieter Jansz Saenredam (Jun 9, 1597, Assendelft - buried May 31, 1665, Haarlem) was a Dutch painter.

Saenredam was the son of the print maker and draughtsman Jan Pietersz Saenredam (1565-1607), who was born in Zaandam or, in those days, Saenredam. A contemporary of Rembrandt, he is noted chiefly for his surprisingly modern paintings of churches. Saenredam achieved this modern look by meticulously measuring and making sketches of the churches he wanted to paint. He would make these sketches in pencil, pen, and chalk, then and add in water colors to help give the sketch texture and color. The sketches are very architectural in detail, they convey the interior atmosphere through the clever use of light and graduated shadows. Saenredam often deliberately left people out of his work, thus also focusing more attention on buildings and their architectural forms. Only after having made precise measurements, and precise sketches and drawings of the churches, he would take them to his studio where he started to create his paintings.

The decline of the Holy Roman Empire lead to a rise in protestant art, like Saenredam’s Interior of the Choir of Buurkerk in Utrecht. This painting show Utrecht’s church not long after it had been ‘cleaned’ of Catholic influence. This church was not built without adornments, it was changed in the epoch of the Thirty Years War. The altarpieces and statuary have been removed, and the walls and ceiling have been white washed to cover up any form of Catholic influence. This church was given a complete makeover so it would uphold the newly acceptable Protestant ideals. The sparse interiors with illuminated corridors act as a witness to the Reformation.

Saenredam wanted to memorialize his country during this time of change by documenting many of the country’s buildings. Many artists before him had specialized in imaginary and fanciful architecture, but Saenredam was the first to focus on existing buildings. According to the J. Paul Getty Trust “Saenredam’s church paintings…owe their poetry to his remarkable blend of fact and fiction. He began by making site drawings of buildings that record measurements and detail with archaeological thoroughness.” This meticulous preparation helped him to create such accurate and enchanting paintings. The measurements aided him in using scientific linear perspective, just like Andrea Pozzo. He was able to use his measurements to create a realistic image with depth. The subject matter for these paintings would not have existed without the Reformation and the Thirty Years War, because the walls of the church would have been covered in icons.

The Utrecht Archives houses a large number of Saenredam's drawings. In the season 2000-2001 the Centraal Museum at Utrecht held a major exhibition of his drawings and paintings. Perhaps his best known works are a pair of oil paintings both titled Interior of the Buurkerk, Utrecht. One hangs in London's National Gallery, the other in the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. In their simplicity and semi-abstract formalism, they foreshadow more modern works such as those of Mondrian and Feininger.