Antwerp – Braun and Hogenberg, ca. 1585

“Antverpia“, engraving made by Georg Hoefnagel. Printed from two copper plates. Published in Cologne by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg as part of the “Civitates Orbis Terrarum” around 1585. Coloured by a later hand. Size: approx. 46 × 79 cm.

We see the city on the River Scheldt from a bird’s-eye perspective. Particularly striking are the star-shaped citadel on the south side of Antwerp, at the left of the map, built by the Duke of Alba; the city moat; and the busy harbour serving the prosperous commercial centre. In the heart of the city the Cathedral of Our Lady (1) is clearly recognisable, as is the Town Hall (24) with the Grote Markt (13) in front of it, and, more in the foreground, St James’s Church (2). The streets are filled with people; the scene conveys a sense of great bustle and activity.

The earliest historical references to Antwerp point to the existence of a settlement with a central function as early as the mid-seventh century. In 1008 it received its own city seal, and in 1315 it became a Hanseatic city. Merchant guilds established themselves here, and between 1347 and 1496 Antwerp’s population grew from 5,000 to 50,000; by around 1560 it had reached approximately 100,000 inhabitants.

In the sixteenth century Antwerp was also a major centre of the arts and the home of Christoffel Plantin, the most important printer and publisher north of the Alps. The prosperous metropolis attracted numerous artists, among them Jan Brueghel the Elder, Peter Paul Rubens, and Anthony van Dyck.

Antwerp, however, also became embroiled in the Wars of Religion, and in 1585 the city was captured by Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma. Large numbers of Protestant merchants and craftsmen were subsequently expelled, leading to a sharp decline in the city’s importance. This bird’s-eye view shows Antwerp in the period shortly before these events.

In the lower left corner is a panegyric poem praising the city by the English diplomat Daniel Rogers of Wittenberg (c. 1538–1591), whose Flemish mother was related to the cartographer Abraham Ortelius. He compares Antwerp to Rome: Rome’s temples lie buried and its monuments of antiquity are no more, but look now at Antwerp, where splendid houses rise from the dark earth—look at the proud Town Hall. In this city, everything you speak of shines. Antwerp does not yield to Rome!

Elsewhere in Braun and Hogenberg’s atlas the city is described as follows: Antwerp is a fine and renowned commercial city in Brabant, much visited by Germans, French, Spaniards, English, Italians, and others. In this city stand magnificent and immense public and private buildings, among them in particular the Church of Our Lady with its high stone tower and the splendid, beautiful Town Hall. The venerable Hanseatic League, the English, and the Portuguese also possess public buildings in which merchants have their residences. In the church of St Michael there stands a magnificent monument and tomb for Isabella’s husband, Charles [the Bold], Duke of Burgundy. On 5 November 1567 the vast city wall was built, with imposing fortifications and bastions, and surrounded by a great moat. Within it, comfortable houses, inhabited by the garrison, encircle a large square. At its centre stands a statue of the famous Duke of Alba, made of gilded metal, richly cast at the command of the King of Spain. It was erected in memory of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba, by Philip II, supreme commander of the Spanish Netherlands, as the king’s most faithful servant, for after suppressing the revolt and crushing the rebels he upheld the faith, the law, and the peace of the province.

The Civitates Orbis Terrarum is regarded as the earliest systematic atlas of cities. Although it had no true predecessors, the work immediately met a need, since the social, political, and economic life of the period unfolded primarily in cities. It became one of the bestsellers of the late sixteenth century. The six volumes of which the work consisted appeared between 1572 and 1618; however, only the first volume bears the title cited above. Georg Braun (1541–1622), canon of Cologne Cathedral, wrote the preface to the first five volumes and also the accompanying texts on the verso of the plans and city views. Much of the material for this town book came from the Antwerp cartographer Abraham Ortelius. His Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in 1570, served as a model for the Civitates in several respects.

Simon van den Neuvel (Novellanus), Frans Hogenberg, and (his son?) Abraham Hogenberg engraved the copperplates after drawings made “to order” by, among others, the Antwerp painter Joris Hoefnagel, his son Jacob Hoefnagel, and Heinrich Rantzau. Not all the plates in the Civitates were produced specifically for this work, however. A number were redrawn from existing plans and city views, including those in Sebastian Münster’s Cosmographia and Lodovico Guicciardini’s Descrittione di tutti i Paesi Bassi.

Price: Euro 1.950,-