Plattegrond van de Waag te Gouda 1715

This is an anonymous architectural drawing of the Waag, or Weigh House, in Gouda, Netherlands. It's a bird's-eye view of the building's layout, showing the precise placement of weighing tables and a central structure, all rendered with an exacting eye. This image gives us a glimpse into the institutional apparatus of commerce in the Dutch Republic. Weigh houses were vital for standardizing trade, ensuring fair measures in a bustling economy. The map underscores the values of accuracy and transparency. Its existence points to the importance of documentation in an age of burgeoning bureaucracy. To fully understand this image, one might delve into the Gouda's economic history, the rise of Dutch mercantile power, and the institutional frameworks that enabled it. Such research might reveal much about the political ambitions of those who commissioned and used drawings of this kind. The Waag, made visible, becomes a site for understanding the social conditions of its time.