Gezicht op het Valkhof en de Waal ten noordwesten van Nijmegen 1815 - 1824

Derk Anthony van de Wart made this drawing of the Valkhof and the Waal river near Nijmegen with pen in the late 18th or early 19th century. It’s a landscape, but also an exercise in toponomy, with the artist numbering specific locations in the scene. The Netherlands in this period was a society in transition, moving away from its Golden Age and grappling with political upheaval, influenced by the French Revolution. Drawings such as this one reflect a growing interest in the local landscape and the rise of scientific classification. They were the product of a cultural milieu shaped by Enlightenment ideals and institutions like learned societies and museums. To understand a work like this, we can look to maps, local histories, and the records of scientific organizations. These sources help us to understand the changing social role of art in this period and to contextualize the image in relation to the institutions that shaped its production and reception.