Seventeen Provinces – Justus Danckerts, c. 1680

“Novissima et accuratissima XVII Provinciarum Germaniae Inferioris Delineatio” [Newest and most accurate depiction of the XVII Provinces of the Netherlands]. Copper engraving made by Abraham Deur (active 1666–1714), published by Justus Danckerts around 1680. With beautiful original hand colouring. Size approx. 47.5 x 56 cm.

At the top of the title cartouche stand Athena, the goddess of wisdom, accompanied by her owl, and Fama, the goddess of eternal fame, with her trumpets. Also adorning the title is Hercules, with his club and the lion’s skin cape from the beast he conquered. Watching over the Netherlands are Fortuna, the goddess of prosperity, holding the Horn of Plenty, and Ceres, goddess of the grain harvest. On the legend to the left is the ascending Dutch Lion, beneath which hangs the family coat of arms of Johan Munter. Munter was a wealthy Amsterdam merchant who held the office of mayor of Amsterdam between 1670 and 1683. The map is dedicated to him.

With the Fall of Antwerp in 1585, a de facto separation occurred between the Northern and Southern Netherlands, causing the seventeen provinces to split into two parts. A border was created, dividing the Seventeen Provinces into the Dutch Republic and the Southern Netherlands.

Due to emigration and the political situation, the economic center of gravity shifted to the north. The revolt against the Spanish continued, and at the same time, religion was dividing the entire continent in two. All of Europe became a major theater of war, and the conflicts were not resolved until 1648 with the Peace of Münster. In this treaty, among other things, Spain officially recognized the Dutch Republic as a sovereign state. The separation of the northern and southern Netherlands became final at that point.

Nonetheless, maps of the Seventeen Provinces continued to appear regularly until about 1800. This was partly due to the enormous cost of fieldwork and engraving required to produce new maps, but also because of the unclear borders in the eastern and southern parts of the Seven Provinces.

Literature:

•  Hans Spikmans “Germania Inferior, cartobibliografie van de Zeventien Provinciën der Nederlanden 1548-1831”, map 156-1

Price: Euro 850,-