Pieter Neefs

Pieter Neefs painted the quiet drama of candlelit church interiors in the 1660s. In Interior of a Church, vaulted ceilings rise above shadowed pews, their arches catching a slant of gold light. Look for the organ loft tucked into the left side of the scene, its pipes catching the same glow.

Neefs specialized in these architectural reveries, repeating the trick of a single window high on the wall to light the whole space. Step closer to see how he stacked the pews in tight diagonal rows to make the viewer feel the hush of an empty nave.