Gezicht op de muren en een ophaalbrug van een stad 1650 - 1699

Esaias van de Velde made this drawing of a city wall and drawbridge with pen and brush in the first decades of the 17th century in the Netherlands. It gives us a glimpse into the architecture of the time, but more interestingly, the drawing is in grisaille, a style that imitates sculpture. It seems to elevate the status of a mere city fortification, and to invite the viewer to admire the functional architecture of the Dutch Republic. It's no accident that the architectural structures are at the fore of the composition, showing how a merchantile society, with no court, viewed its urban space. We might research the archives of the city itself to better understand it and its fortifications at this time. Art like this shows us that meaning is dependent on social and institutional context.