Prospect of Yorke Castle

Maker Wenceslaus Hollar (Bohemian, 1607 - 1677)

ClassificationsDRAWINGS

Daten.d.

Mediumpen and black ink and watercolor on two joined sheets of laid paper mounted on paper

Dimensions6 5/8 × 22 in. (16.8 × 55.9 cm.)

InscribedInscribed: Prospect of Yorke Castle at Tangier, opposite to Spaine/ from the Strand, Close under it, it being/ the north Side [and other place identifications]

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Sir Bruce Ingram Collection

Status

Not on view

Label TextIn 1669, Hollar accompanied a delegation to the Moroccan port of Tangier, which had come under English control with the marriage of Charles II to the Portuguese infanta Catherine of Braganza. This is one of about thirty panoramic views that Hollar made to record the town and forts for the king. It shows his understanding of topographical draftsmanship in its attempt to accurately record the military fortifications and landscape features. At the same time, it reveals his eye for pictorial and narrative details, such as the team of horses pulling a wagon of building materials over the sand, followed by a hunched figure carrying a pickax (2022).

Object number63.52.107

Terms