Saenredam immortalized the Sint-Odulphuskerk (church of St Odulphus) in his native village of Assendelft in quite a few drawings and paintings. The church, a Late Gothic pseudo-basilica, was demolished in 1851 or 1852. Only the tower remained, but that was destroyed by fire in 1893. Saenredam’s drawings are a superb record of the church as it was in the mid-seventeenth century.
The Rijksmuseum drawing shows part of the church interior from the south-west, looking diagonally across the nave towards the north transept. On the left is part of the nave with the pulpit and the end of the north aisle, on the right part of the choir with the plain square tomb of the Lords of Assendelft. The drawing probably served as the basis for an undated painting now in the Galleria Sabauda, Turin (inv. no. unknown). A comparison of the two works shows how Saenredam manipulated reality in his painted church interiors. In this case, he simply omitted the rather obtrusive central pillar but added the easternmost bay of the nave arcade, which was not visible from this position. He also eliminated the ornate pulpit, replacing it with a simpler wooden structure against the east wall of the north transept. The heavy tie beams and braces, which must have been particularly prominent, are missing in the painting. Saenredam also altered the proportions, making the interior look far loftier than it really was.
Marijn Schapelhouman, 1998
