View of siege of Naarden, 1673 (Naarden, North Holland, Netherlands) 52°17ʹ45ʺN 05°09ʹ45ʺE

A view of the siege of Naarden, by Stadtholder William III of Orange (later William III of England and Ireland, William II of Scotland, 1650-1702). Naarden was surrendered by the French Captain Du Pas after a four-day siege on 12 September 1673. Franco-Dutch War (1672-8).

This view depicts William III of Orange (middle right) receiving the surrender of the Mayor of Naarden. To his immediate right stands the Prins van Courant. A little further to the right, with his plumed hat standing out against the dark flags behind him, is the Spanish General, Agourto. In the right foreground the French army beats a retreat, convoyed by Spanish officers: women and children are in the midst of a stream of French officers, some travelling in a litter, baggage wagons with the chaplain near the front of the line. In the left foreground, a woman draws beer from one of the barrels in the sutler's makeshift booth in which meat is being roasted. Two dogs have a tug of war with a piece of meat over the low earth wall. With their muskets resting against the wall of the booth, three soldiers play at dice on an upturned drum while, to their left, a man butchers a carcass, seemingly oblivious to the fight that is on the point of breaking out between three men to the left.

A highly coloured example of this print is in the Atlas Van der Hagen in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, The Hague: 1049B11_092 and in the Rijksmuseum: RP-P-OB-79.278. The plate was later adapted by de Hooghe to depict the siege and conquest in 1674 of Grave (see the entry for this view in the Rijksmuseum: RP-P-OB-79.305; also Muller 2561 and Atlas van Stolk 2602).

Inset: [top centre, a small map of the town of Naarden, with the coat of arms of the town in the interior, and the surrounding field works and a profile:] Profil van de Wal. Grast en Contrescarp Scale. Scale bar: Voetmaet van t Profil [31 mm = [100; no units specified]. Size: 6.7 x 13.3 cm (image).

Additional text: [top right, below French title, a six-line poem by ‘L.B. v. W.’:] Op de Belegring van Naerden

Condition: old tears to edges have been repaired by laying the print down on paper; trimmed to edge of neatline.