Royal Palace of Amsterdam – J.L. van Bever, 1808-1825

“Vue du Palais Royal à Amsterdam” (view of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam), etching with aquatint published by J.L. van…

“Vue du Palais Royal à Amsterdam” (view of the Royal Palace in Amsterdam), etching with aquatint published by J.L. van Bever between 1808-1825. Coloured by a later hand. Size: 49,5 x 76,5 cm.

View of the Dam Square in Amsterdam after the weighing house was demolished, with Royal Palace and Nieuwe Kerk. In the foreground all kinds of activities, such as vegetable saleswomen, a shoeshiner, a walking stick seller, a departing stagecoach, and a porter. On the left on the corner with the former Beurssteeg (stock exchange alley), a saleswoman from a hat store greets customers in front of her shop.

These were poor years for Amsterdam. Trade and shipping in the port of Amsterdam had declined sharply. The access routes were silted up, there were wars with France with England and the embargo of English products on the European mainland also meant that the once thriving port could almost be closed. It was not until the opening of the Noordhollandsch Kanaal, initiated by King Willem I in 1824, that shipping traffic to and from Amsterdam increased again and the city slowly climbed out of recession again.

Price: SOLD