Interior of the Church of St Anne in Haarlem

Jacob van Campen, the architect of the Palace on the Dam in Amsterdam, designed the classicist Church of St Anne (built 1646-49) for Haarlem. Van Campen’s friend Pieter Saenredam devoted this work to it, as well as three other paintings and numerous drawings. The figures of the people in this bright, virtually unornamented Protestant space can also be attributed to him.
Saenredam’s painting is not an exact record of the reality.
The round columns were indeed designed by Van Campen, but were not all built. The interior in the painting also gives the impression of more space than is actually the case. Saenredam specialized in such hard to construct, perspectivist church views. The tranquillity and the geometric clarity of his work make Saenredam’s paintings instantly recognizable.