Reuvens-monument
"Chaos is the beginning of everything," Hesiod, ca 700 B.C.
In 1992, the Old Leiden Association wanted to honor the first director of the National Museum of Antiquities, Caspar Reuvens (1793-1835), who had acquired important parts of the collection. Frans de Wit was commissioned to create the monument and he uses the building and the collection as source of inspiration. From the outside it is impossible to see what function the building has and what beautiful objects it houses. Moreover, De Wit does not want to make a traditional statue. He designs two sculptures in which order emerges from chaos. Two elongated pedestals, resembling lumps of earth, serve as the foundations for a stylized Greek temple and for four Egyptian papyrus columns. De Wit made fluted columns for the Greek temple, as was also done in antiquity to increase the sense of rhythm and emphasize the height with light and shadow.
The two sculptures are placed on different house corners of the National Museum of Antiquities like wall ornaments. Viewers can admire them from street level and get a hint of what is to be seen in the museum.