Toren van kasteel Lagewoerd te Naaldwijk 1731

This simple graphite drawing from 1735 by Abraham de Haen II depicts the tower of Lagewoerd Castle in Naaldwijk. Drawings like this were often commissioned by wealthy landowners to document their property. The tower itself, rendered with a degree of architectural precision, stands as a symbol of power and status within the context of the 18th-century Dutch landscape. Note the small details: the suggestion of brickwork, the simple flag at the tower's peak. These details subtly convey a sense of established authority and control over the surrounding land. We see the influence here of the Dutch Republic’s ‘Golden Age’ and its subsequent decline. To fully appreciate the context of this drawing, one could delve into estate records and other local archives. These kinds of sources can illuminate the social and economic functions of such structures within the broader framework of the Dutch Republic during this time, and the way that they came to be seen as worth documenting in art.