1838
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
The Wasserkirche, Zurich is a 1838 by A.W.N. Pugin, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This sketch shows a tall church with a steep roof and pointed windows, drawn in quick, light lines. In front of it, three small boats float on wavy water, and a few people stand near the shore. Behind the church, a smaller tower with a clock and a cluster of buildings fill the left side. The artist focused on details like the church’s wooden beams and the way the boats’ sails catch the wind. The drawing looks almost like a blueprint, with lots of lines to show depth. Next, check out cross-hatching to see how artists build shadows with lines like these.
The drawing depicts the Wasserkirche in Zurich, with St Peter's Church visible in the background, rendered in pencil. Created in 1838, it documents Pugin's visit to Zurich between August 21 and 23 during a continental tour that included travel along the Rhine and through Switzerland. The sketch was originally part of a leather-bound volume of Swiss drawings, now held in a museum collection, from which this sheet was excised.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins.
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