The Cathedral | MSK Gent
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The Cathedral, 1896

  • etching, paper
  • 240 x 178 mm
  • Inv. 1998-B-105

Public Domain

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The etching "The Cathedral" is one of Ensor's most famous etchings. It is a fairly faithful reproduction of the choir of Aachen Cathedral, with the exception of the towers, which the artist added himself. For the etching, Ensor drew his inspiration from a watercolour of 1836 by the Dutch artist Gerrit Hulseboom (Aachen, Historisches Museum). On the other hand, the crowd huddled together in the foreground is typical of Ensor's mass scenes. In 1896 he reworked the same etching in a second plate, because according to his biographer Albert Croquez the first had been lost. The Museum of Fine Arts Ghent has two prints of the second plate.

Artist

James Ensor RKD VIAF Wikidata
Ostend 1860 - Ostend 1949
etchersAAT

Title The Cathedral
Date 1896
Period 19th century
Medium and support etching AAT
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings signature and year top right: Ensor 1886
signatures (names) below: Ensor
inscription below: A Constantin [...] / [...] en gage de haute estime artistique et [...] / James Ensor
inscription on the reverse: AT
inscription on the reverse: Epreuve speciale / que Ensor / a gravé pour nous [?]!
Collection print room
Object type etching AAT
Inventory number 1998-B-105
Acquisition credit purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.)
1998
Current whereabouts Work currently not on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-105
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/4142/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300056485 fantastic art AAT
Keywords Iconclass 11Q712 church (exterior) Iconclass
11Q7121(CHAPEL) parts of church exterior and annexes: chapel Iconclass
11Q7121(CHOIR) parts of church exterior and annexes: choir Iconclass
11Q7121(EAST FACADE) parts of church exterior and annexes (EAST FACADE) Iconclass
11Q7121(FACADE) parts of church exterior and annexes: facade Iconclass
11Q7121(PORCH) parts of church exterior and annexes: porch Iconclass
11Q7121(PORTAL) parts of church exterior and annexes: portal Iconclass
11Q7121(SPIRE) parts of church exterior and annexes: spire Iconclass
11Q7121(TOWER) parts of church exterior and annexes: tower Iconclass
11Q7121(TRANSEPT) parts of church exterior and annexes: transept Iconclass
43A(+2) festivities (+ parade, pageant, cavalcade ~ festive activities) Iconclass
45B51 military parade, pageant Iconclass
46A7 crowd, mob Iconclass
61E(AACHEN) names of cities and villages (AACHEN) Iconclass
61F(CATHEDRAL) names of historical buildings, sites, streets, etc. (CATHEDRAL) Iconclass
School / Style phantasy
Symbolism (artistic concept) AAT
Henri Leys, Henri de Braekeleer, James Ensor / Loys Delteil. - Paris : Chez l'Auteur, 1925 (nr. 105)
James Ensor : Catalogue illustré de ses gravures ; Leur description critique et l'inventaire des plaques = Geïllustreerde catalogus van zijn gravures ; Hun kritische beschrijving en inventaris van de platen = Illustrated catalogue of his engravings ; Their critical description and inventary of the plates / Auguste Taevernier. - Ledeberg (Gent) : Erasmus Boekhandel bv Amsterdam, 1973 (nr. 105)
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