Egbert van der Poel, 'A View of Delft after the Explosion of 1654', 1654
About the work
Overview
On 12 October 1654 – the date inscribed on the painting – one of the gunpowder stores in the city of Delft accidentally detonated, flattening a large part of the city. A local artist, Egbert van der Poel, was so fascinated by the event that he painted this scene at least 20 times. Judging from contemporary maps and buildings which still exist, the pictures appear to be a largely accurate view of the devastation.
All that was left on the site of the store was a deep pool of water (probably the one we can see on the right side of this picture). The buildings on the horizon are churches, the town hall and the hospital. While van der Poel seems to have painted what he saw, the importance and visual prominence of these buildings lends a symbolic strength to the scene. Much of the town has been devastated by the disaster, but its great institutions still stand strong.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A View of Delft after the Explosion of 1654
- Artist
- Egbert van der Poel
- Artist dates
- 1621 - 1664
- Date made
- 1654
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 36.2 × 49.5 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Bequeathed by John Henderson, 1879
- Inventory number
- NG1061
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
- Frame
- 18th-century English Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2018Nature Unleashed: The Image of Catastrophe since 1600Hamburger Kunsthalle29 June 2018 - 14 October 2018
Bibliography
-
1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.