Interior of a Gothic Church

Paul Juvenal the Elder based this architectural vista on the Augustinian Church in Nuremberg, which was torn down in 1819. Large portions of the paper are left blank, which gives the architecture a sense of spaciousness suffused with light. Use of a thin-nibbed, sparsely inked pen, briefly sketched ornament, lack of figures, and fine, ruled lines further emphasize the building's verticality and space. Blue wash--more luminous and airy than the common brown wash--increases the soaring effect of the vaults and the interior's sunlit feeling. The color's decorative quality also complements the delicacy of the "fish bubble" vaulting.

Juvenal made this drawing as a preparatory study for a 1611 painting on copper. Unlike most Northern European architectural painters, who drew directly on the panels they planned to paint, Juvenal often made perspectival "construction drawings" like this one.