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Vermeer's View of Delft and his Vision of Reality. |
Copyright
Dr. Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.,C.J.Kaldenbach
APPENDIX
The following constitute concise histories of the primary architectural
elements depicted in Vermeerﾕs View of Delft.
The Rotterdam Gate, a caste-like type of city gate, was built in the 14th century. During the reconstruction of 1590-91, the facade on the town side was, according to modern aesthetical demands, ornately decorated. The entire structure consists of two sections, the main gate building and the front gate, with two octagonal hanging towers flanking the drawbridge. This front entrance was controlled by watchman from a room directly above the drawbridge. The outer wall shows signs of repair done with yellow brick.
The road from the drawbridge through the main gate is flanked by covered corridors about three meters high, built on arches. Above the main gate watchman control the traffic through openings in the floor. In order to seal the entrance, a portcullis could be lowered at the town facade. The main gate probably was symmetrical in floor plan and roof, but the first trustworthy map of c. 1830 shows an asymmetrical design. This front gate remained intact longer than its neighborﾕs, until some time after 1695. In that year, Josua de Grave made a series of drawings from different angles, possibly with the planned demotion, in mind. At the demolition, the foundation remained to serve as a road. Due to necessity, the single drawbridge was replaced with a larger one in 1737, and the main gate was demolished in 1834 to make way for the construction of an avenue.
The gate was built of common brick alternated, for aesthetic reasons, with layers of light colored natural stone on the fa溝 de which produced a horizontal character and defend space. These layers were sometimes painted to enhance their appearance. The number of layers varies greatly in the depictions by other artists, but seventeen would be an educated guess. The roof has a cross-shaped summit, and a hiproof with pairs of dormer windows on the four triangular sides. On the viewerﾕs side of the gate the sloping roof of the North-South axis continues down the sides of the building where the chimneys rise. A pierced contour is created by the pointed wrought-iron and lead ornaments on the roof top and on the chimneys. The S-shaped stone ornaments on the fa溝 de and on the base of the chimneys create great difficulties for artists; many different versions can be seen.The Schiedam Gate and the Rotterdam Gate are, broadly speaking, twin structures. The corridor between the main building of the Schiedam Gate and the front had collapsed by the end of the 16th century. In 1590-91 this front gate was demolished, while its foundation remained as a pier. The main gate was lowered and modernized with stepped gables on four sides. To serve the ferries, a clock and bell tower were installed. From Vermeerﾕs point of view, the building seems rectangular but in fact is diamond shaped. Attached to the left side of the gate is an irregular structure; its precise shape can be studied in Abraham Rademakerﾕs drawing.
The layers of natural stone in the facade are fewer in number than those on the Rotterdam Gate. Two pairs of two bands are evident with an added horizontal band just above the arched entrance way. Vermeer included the holes in which the scaffolding rested. These can also be seen in Gerrit Toorenburghﾕs careful rendering of the site in his 18th century drawing.
On the left side of the City Wall, Vermeer added a horizontal (stone?) band in the center. No other artist shows this band; it does not even appear in Bisschopﾕs more detailed rendering . Towards the right, the wall is at an angle and leads into the small Kethel Gate, which was built after 1591 for easier access to the quay and the bridge. On depictions by other artists we see two doors covered by a simple sloping roof. On the town side, a decoration in classical style was constructed, crowned by a lion holding the Delft coat-of-arms. The wall on the town side was reinforced by a mount of earth; some structures occupy this space, including a mill and some sheds.
The Harbor is actually a canalized watercourse, referred to as the ﾔkolkﾕ. Around the 14th century the Rotterdam and Schiedam Gate were built as (almost) symmetrical twin towers in the banks of the Schie. They served to control the traffic over water and land, and to defend the city at a point where enemy attack was expected. At the end of the 16th century the status of Delft as a military storonghold had declined. By that time, the front gate of the Schiedam was already ruin, and in 1590-91, extensive renovations were carried out. The front gate of the Schiedam Gate was demolished and its main building lowered and modernized. A triangular rampart was constructed at the front of the gate, though by 1614 a harbor was needed more urgently than the rampart, which was dug away. Thus on the Delft end of the Schie a triangular harbor was created with a small pier (the Hoofd) extending from it for additional docking space for the ferry and transportation service.
The Rotterdam and Shiedam Gates were demalished in the years 1834 and 1836, just at the time when photography was invented; however, no photograph is known of these gates. Owing to their southern, sunlit position, and their picturesque situation on the water, the gates have been drawn, painted, etched and en graved many times. Most of this material may be found in the Municipal Archives and the Stedelijk Museum "Het Prinsenhof".Thirty of these renderings show the gates frontally, from about the position Vermeer chose. For this study views from other angles have also been traced. Together they total forty-five drawings and watercolors, seventeen prints, eleven city maps and four paintings, excluding the copies mentioned in Blankert. We wish to thank the staff of the Municipal Archives for their cooperation. In the Stedelijk Museum "Het Prinsenhof" Ineke Spaander has been particularly helpful for this research.
Extremely important information on the history of Delft and its cultural heritage can also be found in the many essays contained in the sequence of the following exhibition catalogues from the Stedelijk Museum 'Het Prinsenhof', Delft.
De Stad Delft,cultuur en maatschappij tot 1572 (part I), Delft,1978.
De Stad Delft,cultuur en maatschappij van 1572 tot 1667 (part II) Delft,1980.
De Stad Delft,cultuur en maatschappij van 1667 tot 1813 (part III) Delft,1982.
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