Prospect of the Lower Part of Tangier 1665 - 1675

Editor: This is Wenceslaus Hollar's "Prospect of the Lower Part of Tangier," a cityscape made sometime between 1665 and 1675. It's an engraving, with this meticulously lined technique. It almost feels…like a stage set. I'm really curious about how someone living in 17th-century Europe might have responded to an image of a North African city. What do you see in this piece, beyond just the geography? Curator: A portal, perhaps? Looking at this, I'm transported, not just to Tangier, but back to a moment in history brimming with shifting allegiances and colonial ambition. The level of detail suggests a desire for control, to capture, dissect and possess a place through observation. Almost like a virtual conquest! What do you think the presence of the soldiers, so carefully delineated, might suggest about England's interest in Tangier at that time? Editor: That’s such an interesting idea. I was thinking of them as static figures, like decorations on the landscape! But now that you mention it, their presence underscores the tension of control. This image was produced while Tangier was under English rule, right? Curator: Exactly! So, think about what it meant to possess this image, this ‘prospect.’ It was a statement of power, projecting not just Tangier, but England’s dominion over it, back onto the English landscape itself. And for a buyer purchasing it, a symbolic investment, perhaps? Do you get a sense of that layered meaning in other baroque cityscapes you've studied? Editor: I definitely see what you mean. I usually think about art of this period as being religious or about the monarchy. The way this engraving uses those same tools of image-making for something… else... it completely reframes my understanding of that time! Curator: It’s the slippage of control that captivates, I think. England's dominion over Tangier didn't last, of course, and what remains now, centuries later, is this incredible image, a frozen moment in time that nevertheless still speaks of aspiration, power and the fragility of empire. Editor: Right. It's less about the place itself, and more about that particular gaze. Curator: Precisely! The act of seeing, the claim of ownership—frozen in ink. What a thought!