Kinders, deeze steeden die gy hier, voor u siet afgeprend, / Zyn de voornaamste die in Braband en Holland zyn bekend 1743

This print, "Kinders, deeze steeden die gy hier..." by Hendrik van Irhoven, made around 1743, offers a structured panorama of cities in Brabant and Holland. The composition is divided into twelve framed images, each presenting an aerial view of a city. Notice how the artist uses a consistent visual language: densely packed buildings rendered with fine, repetitive lines that create a uniform texture across the entire sheet. This technique emphasizes the cities' structured nature. The grid layout and similar representation of each city invite comparison, yet the almost abstract quality of the linework flattens the images, reducing the specificity of each locale. This formal approach speaks to the period's interest in systematization and order. The print uses recognizable visual signs to represent cities, suggesting a desire to categorize and understand space through a semiotic system. The even distribution of visual weight flattens any hierarchy and invites the viewer to decode the underlying structures of urban space through comparative analysis. This reveals the print's engagement with broader cultural and philosophical concerns related to mapping, knowledge, and representation.