STATION 14. Jesus Is Laid in the Tomb and STATION 15. Resurrection
Giorgio Andreotta Calò: Αναστάσης (Resurrection), 2018, site-specific installationin the Holy Sepulchre Chapel of the Oude Kerk (Old Church). Photo: Maarten Nauw.
“The Old Church is the oldest building in Amsterdam, one of the youngest art museums in the city and on Sundays still an active house of worship. Since 2018 you can find a red window in the Holy Sepulchre Chapel. It is a work of art by Giorgio Andreotta Calò. This site-specific installation considers, among other things, the transformation of a Roman Catholic church (1306-1587) into a Protestant church (1587-present).
“The Holy Sepulchre Chapel was built in 1515 after the example of the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem. A canopy is visible in the space, under which you would expect to see something. In the sixteenth century a group of sculptures stood there that depicted the deposition and the mourning of Christ. This sculpture group was destroyed during the iconoclastic fury in 1566. Now there is emptiness and the canopy conveys the absence of the image. In the work Αναστάσης the artist relates to the visibility of the absent sculptures.” (Jacqueline Grandjean, director of the Oude Kerk)
Through the insertion of a red stained-glass window, the artist does not alter anything in the chapel except for the light. In that way he alters the experience of everything. Emptiness takes on the appearance of a new kind of presence. Not all problems have been solved after Jesus’ time in the grave and his resurrection, but millions of people now have a changed view of life. The message of Easter brings us new courage. Everything is placed in a different light.
Location: Oude Kerk (Old Church),Oudekerksplein 23. oudekerk.nl
text: Anikó Ouweneel