Leiden – Leon Schenk after Abraham Rademaker, ca. 1730

“Gesigt van de Stadt Leyden beroemt door syn hooghe schoole geleege in Holland op den verstopten Ryn” [View of the City of Leiden, famous for its university, situated in Holland on the silted-up Rhine], copper engraving printed from two plates on two joined sheets, made by Leonard Schenk after a design by Abraham Rademaker, ca. 1730. Coloured by a later hand. Size: approx. 57 × 97 cm.

This imposing panoramic view shows Leiden from the south, with the city extending from the Koepoort to the Zijlpoort. Above the city is a long title banner flanked by putti, with the coat of arms of Leiden and its crossed keys on the left and the lion of Holland on the right. The parallel Dutch and French titles explicitly present Leiden as a city “famous for its university” – Leiden University, founded in 1575.

Behind the city walls unfolds an impressive panorama of Leiden. From left to right, identifiable buildings include the Academy Building, the university library, the Pieterskerk, the Rijnsburgerpoort, the Saaihal, the Town Hall, the Vrouwekerk, the Marekerk, the Burcht and the Hooglandse Kerk. Several of the buildings are identified by small inscriptions within the image.

Several windmills stand on the city ramparts. Their elevated and relatively open position provided excellent exposure to the wind; such wall mills played an important role in grinding grain and in other urban industries. Of the nineteen windmills that once stood on Leiden’s ramparts, only De Valk survives today.

The extent of the city shown here was largely the result of Leiden’s three major seventeenth-century expansions. During the last of these, in 1659, areas to the east and southeast were incorporated into the city. The old Hogewoerdspoort was demolished and replaced by a new city gate farther east. The Koepoort, visible on the left of the panorama, stood at the end of what is now Doezastraat and took its name from the cattle that were driven into and out of the city through this gate.

Schenk’s view is not confined to Leiden’s monumental skyline. Townspeople stroll along the tree-lined canal, fishermen sit at the water’s edge and small boats pass along the waterway. In the foreground, the urban landscape gives way almost imperceptibly to the Dutch countryside: cattle graze in the meadow, a woman carrying wooden milk pails walks towards the cows, farm labourers rest beside their tools, while on the right a cart is being loaded with hay. It is precisely this combination of a monumental city view and scenes of everyday life that makes the print interesting not only as a topographical record, but also as a document of social history.

Price: €4,850 (incl. frame)