Antwerp – Johannes Ruff after Anton Ditzler, c. 1840

ANTWERP SHORTLY AFTER BELGIAN INDEPENDENCE

“Panorama von Antwerpen / Panorama d’Anvers”, engraving with aquatint, made c. 1840 by Johannes Ruff after a drawing by Anton Ditzler and published in Cologne by F. C. Eisen. Coloured by a later hand. Image size: 8.7 × 53.5 cm; including text: 11 × 53.5 cm.

This panorama shows Antwerp from the Vlaams Hoofd on the left bank of the Scheldt. In the foreground is the landing stage for the ferry crossing to the city centre. The paddle steamer “La Ville d’Anvers” lies ready at the quay.

Across the river, the city stretches along the right bank, with further steamers and countless sailing vessels. The tall tower of the Cathedral of Our Lady dominates the skyline, surrounded by the roofs and warehouses of the old mercantile city. On the right stands the citadel, the great sixteenth-century fortress that commanded the southern approach to Antwerp. The city appears here before the large-scale nineteenth-century expansion of its harbour, quays and residential districts.

The paddle steamer is the modern element in the view. A regular steamship service between the Vlaams Hoofd and the Steenplein had operated since 1828; it was interrupted during the Belgian Revolution and resumed in 1834.

The tranquil city view contrasts with the recent political and military upheaval. On 27 October 1830, the Dutch general Chassé ordered Antwerp to be shelled from the citadel and from Dutch warships on the Scheldt. Two years later, a French army besieged the citadel, still occupied by Dutch troops. Following heavy bombardment, it capitulated at the end of December 1832. The citadel was severely damaged during the siege, but subsequently rebuilt and repaired by the Belgian army, only to be demolished in 1874.

In 1839, the terms of Belgian independence were definitively settled, although the Scheldt remained subject to a Dutch toll until 1863. Nothing in this view still betrays those turbulent years.

Price: Euro 975,-