Nijmegen – Friedrich Bernhard Werner + Johann Friederich Probst, 1760

“NIMMEGEN”, large copper engraving after a design by Friedrich Bernhard Werner, published in Augsburg by Johann Friedrich Probst around 1760. Later hand-coloured. Dimensions (print): 38.5 × 111 cm.

Seen from the opposite bank of the Waal, Nijmegen stretches across the horizon in a broad city panorama, rising high above the river. In the foreground is the Waal, with several cargo vessels and smaller craft; behind it rise the ramparts, gates and towers of the walled city. On the hill to the left stands Valkhof Castle, while at the centre the city’s principal church, the Church of St Stephen, dominates the skyline. Above the city hangs a broad ribbon bearing the name Nimmegen, accompanied on the right by a coat of arms.

The numbers in the image refer to eighteen buildings, gates and locations identified in the legend beneath the print. These include the Hunnerpoort, the Burchtpoort, the town hall, the Broederkerk, the Church of St Stephen, the Windmolenpoort, the Hezelpoort and the River Waal itself. The print thus presents Nijmegen not only as an ancient and distinguished city, but emphatically also as a fortified river city of strategic importance.

The panorama belongs to the large series of European city views for which the Silesian draughtsman Friedrich Bernhard Werner (1690–1776) supplied the designs. Before devoting himself to drawing cities, Werner led a remarkably adventurous life, working at various times as a soldier, a ‘Wunderdoktor’ or quack doctor, a translator of operas and a surveyor. From 1729 onwards he produced almost one hundred large city views for the Augsburg publishers associated with the heirs of Jeremias Wolff. His designs were subsequently transferred to copper by various engravers.

The business had developed from the celebrated print publishing house of Jeremias Wolff (1663–1724), one of the leading Augsburg art publishers of his day. After his death, the business was continued by his son-in-law Johann Balthasar Probst and subsequently by Probst’s sons. Johann Friedrich Probst (1721–1781), who took over part of the business in 1750, continued to publish Werner’s large city views for many years.

In the eighteenth century Augsburg was an important international centre for print production, sometimes described as “die Bilderfabrik Europas” — ‘Europe’s picture factory’. City views intended for a European market were given a recognisable Augsburg visual character. This is evident here as well. The panorama is based on the topography of Nijmegen, but some of its buildings have acquired a distinctly South German appearance; several towers, for example, were crowned with the onion-shaped domes so familiar in Augsburg architecture.

Price: Euro 2.850,-