Inname van Cremona, 1702 1702 - 1714

This is Abraham Allard's etching of the 'Inname van Cremona', or the Capture of Cremona, from 1702. Cremona, in Lombardy, Italy, was captured by Austrian troops during the War of the Spanish Succession, a conflict shaped by dynastic and territorial disputes among Europe’s most powerful empires. Allard’s print offers a bird's-eye view of the besieged city, revealing as much about the strategies of warfare as it does about the representation of power. Note the stark lines of the fortress which contrast with the more organic rendering of the landscape. The city is portrayed as a prize, a strategic point in the theater of war. Consider the human cost of such territorial disputes. While Allard's etching presents a neat and orderly vision of military strategy, it omits the messy realities of war. The etching invites us to reflect on the relationship between power, place, and the stories we choose to tell about conflict.