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The Cathedral, 1886

  • etching, paper
  • 236 x 177 mm
  • Inv. 1998-B-7-1

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 owns two prints of the second plate.

Artist

James Ensor RKD VIAF Wikidata
Ostend 1860 - Ostend 1949
etchersAAT

Title The Cathedral
Date 1886
Period 19th century
Medium and support etching AAT
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings printed inscription top left: Ensor 1886
inscription on the reverse: James Ensor Epreuve N°8.
inscription on the reverse: AT
Collection print room
Object type etching AAT
Inventory number 1998-B-7-1
Acquisition credit purchase
Taevernier, Auguste (coll.)
1998
Current whereabouts Work currently not on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1998-B-7-1
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/3998/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
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. 7)
James Ensor by Luc Tuymans (Exhibition London, Royal Academy of Arts, 29.10.2016 - 29.02.2017) / Luc Tuymans, Adrian Locke, Herwig Todts, Gerrit Vermeiren, Xavier Tricot, Anna Testar, Beatrice Gullström, Alison Hissey, Carola Krueger. - London : Royal Academy of Arts, 2016 (p. 148 (ill. 30))
James Ensor, Occasional Modernist : Ensor's artistic and social ideas and the interpretation of his art / Herwig Todts. - Turnhout : Brepols, 2018 (p. 379 (ill. 167))
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