Gezicht op Rotterdam vanaf de Maas 1827 - 1900

This undated print shows a view of Rotterdam from across the Maas river, made anonymously through an etching technique. It depicts the modern bustle of a Dutch port city, but it does so through the conventions of landscape art. The inclusion of fashionable figures enjoying a promenade gives life to the scene. It also recalls a tradition of Dutch landscape imagery which served to reinforce notions of nationhood, and even superiority, in the face of foreign competition. Rotterdam, the busiest port in the Netherlands, would have been essential to that sense of economic and political power. The etching medium allowed for a high degree of detail. This, together with the orderly composition, creates a feeling of clarity and control. To understand this image better, we might look to records of shipping activity and civic boosterism in Rotterdam. We must see images like this as tied to social and institutional forces.