Jan Peeters, View of Bergen-op-Zoom, 1679

by Atelier Liesjes

Seen from the water, Bergen-op-Zoom lies like a long, fortified town behind its ramparts. On the left, the fortification begins with a low harbour head and a row of posts in the water; this is followed by bastions with sloping earthen ramparts, blocks of houses with pointed roofs, two windmills with turning sails, a slender tower with a pear-shaped spire and, on the right, the large, fanning-out church with a high crossing. On the right-hand side, the rampart continues with a gatehouse. Hanging above the town in a banner is the town coat of arms featuring three St Andrew’s crosses and the inscription ‘Bergen op Zoom’. In the foreground, a rowing boat with four figures bobs amongst the waves; on the right, a large flat-bottomed vessel with a painted sail is sailing, and further away lies another small boat.
The image is an etching, constructed with fine hatching and cross-hatching made up of countless parallel lines. On the left, the sky is filled with heavy, curling clouds from which rain appears to be falling; on the right, it clears to reveal plump cumulus clouds. The water is drawn with undulating lines that set the rhythm of the print. The depiction of the ramparts and bastions is precise, whilst the houses behind them are rendered in a looser, more fleeting manner. Such cityscapes appeared in atlases of towns and fortresses, in which the Republic had its conquered and allied strongholds recorded; the emphasis is therefore on ramparts, gates and water defences – the military logic of the city.
Jan Peeters (Antwerp 1624 – Antwerp 1678) provided the drawing, whilst the Antwerp engraver Gaspar Bouttats produced the etching. The print comes from the seventh volume of a series of city and fortification views of the United Netherlands, published in the late seventeenth century. The combination of a painter’s design and an engraver’s touch lends the print a distinctive lightness. For collectors of topographical prints and enthusiasts of Brabant’s fortified towns, this is a fine and historically significant document.