Voorpoort van de Burcht van Leiden 1879 - 1915

This photograph of the Voorpoort van de Burcht van Leiden was taken by Jan Goedeljee, sometime in the late nineteenth century. As a photographer, Goedeljee was part of a rapidly industrializing world, one in which images could be produced and disseminated on a mass scale, unlike painting or sculpture. The photograph itself is a study of ironwork, complete with heraldic devices. Iron production scaled up dramatically in the 1800s, thanks to technological advances like coke smelting, and the Bessemer process for making steel. Wrought iron in particular was the material of choice for all kinds of architectural and infrastructural projects: bridges, train stations, and gates like this one. Consider the labor involved in the gate’s production: the mining and smelting of the ore, the work of the blacksmith, and the transportation and installation of the finished product. Photography and ironwork: both are testaments to human ingenuity and the power of industrialization, and both continue to shape our world today.