← Claes Jansz. Visscher

Views of the Surroundings of Haarlem

Original title: Views of the Surroundings of Haarlem (Beschryvinge ende lof der stad Haerlem in Holland. In rijm bearbeyd: ende met veele oude ende nieuwe stucken buyten dicht uyt verscheyde kroniken, handvesten, brieven, memorien ofte geheugenissen ende diergelijke schriften verklaerd ende bevestigd)

Artist

Claes Jansz. Visscher

Date

1628

Medium

Vellum bound book with letterpress text with engraved and etched illustrations and a woodcut printer's mark, with a set of etchings tipped in at the back

Dimensions

7 11/16 × 6 3/16 × 1 7/8 in. (19.5 × 15.7 × 4.8 cm)

Credit line

Purchase, Dr. and Mrs. Arthur H. Elkind Gift, 2015

kurzbeschreibung

In 1628 Claes Jansz. Visscher published 'Views of the Surroundings of Haarlem', a vellum-bound book that brings together printed text, engravings and etchings. One sheet from it unites a reading figure, a coat of arms and a landscape into a praise of the city of Haarlem and its environs.

Description

On the left, a figure sits absorbed in a book, pen in hand; beside this appears a coat of arms bearing the inscription 'HAERLEM' and a sword. On the right, a figure holds a shield and lance, a sign of the city's protection. Trees and a wide open landscape close off the view. The layout is mirrored, with the reader on the left and the coat of arms and guardian figure on the right. Even light and monochrome tonality are typical of the engraving.

Context

By 1628 Haarlem was a culturally and economically important centre of the Netherlands, and it was during this period that the book was made. Visscher, esteemed as a cartographer and publisher, was known for topographic prints and city views. Poetic eulogies of the city are combined with pictorial descriptions of its surroundings. The work thus belongs to the seventeenth-century Dutch tradition of urban panegyric.

Impact

The calm, mirrored arrangement and the clear lines of the engraving evoke an orderly, idyllic image of the landscape. Reading and protection stand side by side and read as symbols of education and security; both support the good opinion one is meant to form of the city.

Technique

The book is bound in vellum; it contains letterpress text as well as engravings and etchings. The engraving was done in copper, which allows for the finest details and precise lines. At the end of the volume, additional loose etchings are inserted.

AI-generated description text

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)