The ancient port of Antwerp in 1700

by AM FineArtPrints

Title

The ancient port of Antwerp in 1700

Artist

AM FineArtPrints

Medium

Painting - Painting

Description

The ancient port of Antwerp in 1700

By the second half of the 16th century, Antwerp city was the focus of politico-religious struggles between the Protestant North and Catholic South (Spain), which led to the River Scheldt being closed. From an economic point of view, this was a disaster. Yet the city continued to flourish culturally until the mid-seventeenth century thanks to painters like Rubens, Anthony Van Dyck, Jordaens and Teniers, printers such as Plantin and Moretus, and the famous Antwerp harpsichord builders.

But from 1650 till the 19th century, Antwerp went into serious decline, as the Scheldt remained closed and the city became little more than a provincial town. It was only after the fall of Napoleon at Waterloo (1815) that Antwerp entered a short period of prosperity, which ended with the Belgian Revolution (1830) and once again the closure of the Scheldt. The river was finally reopened for good in 1863, paving the way for Antwerp to return to its former glory.

Apart from interruptions during the two world wars, Antwerp has experienced steady economic growth since the start of the 20th century and is now home to the second largest port in Europe, as well as the world hub for uncut diamonds. (https://www.visitflanders.com/)

The artwork is based on a work from the British Library's PUBLIC DOMAIN catalog.

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April 12th, 2021

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