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Other 17th-century conflicts

Printed and manuscript maps, prints and views of 22 seventeenth-century wars

ROMEYN DE HOOGHE (1645-1708)

Siege of Groningen, 1672

De Belegringh van GROENINGEN

dated 1672

Etching and engraving; printed on paper; mounted on paper | Scale: not stated | RCIN 724003

A view of the siege of Groningen, 21 July-28 August 1672, by Christoph Bernhard von Galen (1606-78), Prince-Bishop of Münster, resisted by the Dutch, commanded by Lieutenant-General Carl von Rabenhaupt (1602-75) who repelled the attack. Franco-Dutch War (1672-8).

Letterpress text, entitled ‘Oprecht Verhaal, Hodanigh de Stadt GROENINGEN’, containing an account of the action and the explanation to the letters and numbers on the view, was published by Marcus Doornick of Amsterdam, and printed on the same sheet of paper as the map and view. This text is not present in the Royal Collection.

The map is oriented with east to top and shows the approaches of the forces of the Bishoprick of Münster on the south side of the tree-lined ramparts of the fortified walls of Groningen. The parallels and the batteries lobbing in mortar fire are placed between the three principal roads leading into the city.

Beneath the map is a smaller scale location map for Groningen. This is surmounted by the emblem of Groningen: a double-headed eagle with shield above a lion's head and flanked by olive branches. To the left of this device reclines a woman holding a mirror entwined with a serpent in her left hand and, in her right, a sieve containing two apples or perhaps pomegranates; to the right sits a man in Roman military dress and helmet, holding a Corinthian column. The feet and tail of the lion protrude from the bottom of the small map.

The view, which is engraved below the map, is taken from the left of the central road, as shown on the map, in a position close to the town, just behind the two mortar batteries which are labelled ‘g’ on the map. In the foreground of the view, a group of pioneers trudges along the zig-zag trench carrying bundles of faggots and timber frameworks in order to build defences and batteries while, at the same time, wounded soldiers are being brought out on stretchers; batteries, which have been built up on earthworks and protected by fascines, are placed at intervals along the trenches. In the right foreground, a group of men take baskets of cannon balls and push barrels of gunpowder up to the cannon on the battery where a man with a telescope spies out the next target. One of the two mounted men directing the attack, numbered ‘3’ in the right foreground, is probably the Prince-Bishop of Münster, Bernhard von Galen.

In 1674 the print was ‘opgenomen’ in Tobias van Domselaar's Het ontroerde Nederlandt … which was published by Doornik (see Landwehr 37). A facsimile of the 1674 map was published in 2011 by Peter Michiel Schaap, Anneke Claus, Gabriël de Graauw et al., Platform GRAS (Groningen).

Condition: two fold lines.
  • Romeyn de Hooghe (1645-1708) (engraver) [bottom left corner:] R de Hooghe f. 1672

    ? Marcus Willemsz. Doornick (1633-1703) (publisher)

  • Watermark: Map: none visible. Mount: none visible.

    Condition: two fold lines

  • Scale: not stated

    31.3 x 39.5 cm (image and sheet)

    cropped (platemark)

    32.7 x 40.9 cm (mount)

    12.8 x 39.5 cm (image and neatline of map)

    18.1 x 39.4 cm (image and neatline of view)

  • Printed title:

    De Belegringh van GROENINGEN [between map and view, on unfurled banner, to each side of a cartouche with a smaller-scale map of the area]

    Annotations:

    George III heading: Groningen July 1672.

    Other annotations: none.

    George III catalogue entry:

    Groningen A Plan and View of the Siege of Groningen in July 1672; by R. de Hooghe, 1672.

  • Subject(s)

    Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands (53°13ʹ09ʺN 06°34ʹ00ʺE)

  • Bibliographic reference(s)

    Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, 27, Leipzig 1888, pp. 85-87

    J. Landwehr, Romeyne de Hooghe the etcher contemporary portrayal of Europe 1662-1707, Leiden 1973, p. 61, 1a

Page revisions

  • 14 March 2024