To the series of snow landscapes Vincent draws shortly after arriving in Nuenen, including of the Old Tower, he adds a scene in which a church building is given a prominent role. It is the St. Clemens Church in Gerwen. So Vincent explores that village, two kilometers northeast of Nuenen, as early as December 1883. The origin of this St. Clemens Church - not to be confused with the St. Clemens Church in Nuenen - is in the fifteenth century, but the building was rebuilt after a fire in 1612. This church, like several others in the area, is dedicated to St. Clemens. Clemens I was pope from 90 to 100 and died by torture. Presumably the parish of Gerwen-Nuenen was founded by the Benedictines, who had a special veneration for this saint.
In Gerwen, this is a three-aisled cross basilica, which stands on the road from Nuenen to Lieshout. Vincent chooses to look from the northeast, so that he can see the back of the choir of the church, where the tower protrudes backwards. Very accurately he does not record the structure. He may have drawn it in his studio from sketches he made on the spot; Landscape with Church is probably one of them. In the larger drawing, he remarkably builds the choir from various elements of the exterior.
The stained glass windows and neo-Gothic interior were installed after Vincent's visit, namely around 1887-1888. After a new St. Clemens Church in Gerwen was inaugurated in 1967, the building was given another purpose.
