Detail from Haerlem (Haarlem) by Franz, or Frans, Hogenberg, ca. 1573. Dayton C. Miller Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

In the 1570s, Haarlem, a city in the Netherlands loyal to William the Silent (1533-1584), Prince of Orange, opposed Philip II of Spain as the ruler of the Netherlands. Philip sent his Spanish troops to besiege the city of Haarlem in December of 1572. After a seven-month siege, the city of Haarlem surrendered to the Spanish victors on the 13th of July 1573, the date given at the bottom edge of this print. In this tragic scene, Dutch soldiers who had defended the city against the Spanish were beheaded or thrown into the river Spaarne. A single flutist and a drummer stand at the lower right and play music during the executions.

Here is a translation of the inscription which describes the events that took place: "After Haarlem had surrendered / A great blood bath was perpetuated / There was hanging and beheading without end / The women were also raped / By the Spanish rabble in such a way / That they were even hanged naked in the streets / Hanged with great lewdness against all honor and fear of God."[1]

This etching comes from a series of more than 400 prints Hogenberg produced on the history of the religious and civil wars in the Netherlands, France, and England from about 1559 onward. Probably published in Cologne in the 1570s and 1580s, each print had at its foot verses in German describing the scene and giving the date of the event. This particular etching, number 13, comes from the 6th series of 29 prints on the history of the Netherlands.[2]

About the Artist

Franz, or Frans, Hogenberg, painter, engraver, etcher, and publisher, ca. 1540-ca. 1590
Franz, or Frans, Hogenberg was a Flemish painter, engraver, etcher, and publisher who was born in Mechelen, or Malines, in present-day Belgium about 1540 and who died in Cologne about 1590. Hogenberg probably began his studies with the cartographer, H. Terbruggen, in Mechelen. In the 1550s until about 1560, he worked in Antwerp, producing engravings of allegorical subjects and portraits. He engraved many maps for Theatrum orbis terrarum (Theatre of the World) by Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) which was first published in Antwerp in 1570. This was an extremely important publication, the first true atlas. The Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress has four imprints of the first Latin edition of 1570, the third imprint of which is available online. Thirty-one editions of the Theatrum were published in seven languages between 1570 and 1612.

In the 1560s, Hogenberg was apparently in England where he engraved portraits of Lord Burghley and the Earl of Leicester as well a frontispiece portrait of Elizabeth I, which were published in the Bishops' Bible of 1568 by Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury. By 1570, Hogenberg was in Cologne where he produced over one hundred engravings for De Leone Belgico .... by Michael Aitsinger (Eytzinger) which was published in 1583. Hogenberg engraved many maps for Civitates orbis terrarum, a six-volume city atlas (1572-1594) which he produced with Georg Braun (1541-1622), a humanist from Cologne. Hogenberg also continued to engrave portraits, among them that of Gerard Mercator in 1574. He also provided several hundred engravings for a large print series, Scenes from the Religious and Civil Wars from the History of the Netherlands, France, and England from 1559. In 1575, Hogenberg engraved 31 plates after engravings by the Master of the Dice of Raphael's Cupid and Psyche series of frescoes of 1518 which are in the Loggia of Psyche in the Villa Farnesina in Rome. (See a print by Nicolas Dorigny, 1658-1746, in the Miller collection from this Cupid and Psyche cycle by Raphael, 596/U). Hogenberg traveled to Hamburg in 1585, to Copenhagen in 1588, and returned again to Hamburg in the same year.[3]

Notes

1. The last word, "frucht," was undoubtedly meant to read "furcht," meaning "fear." The translation of the inscription is courtesy of Fred and Jutta Bauman of Arlington, Virginia, 29 August 2005. [back to article]
2. For a complete listing of Hogenberg's 485 historical prints, see Frederik Muller, De Nederlandsche gescheidnis in platen. ... 4 vols. Amsterdam: Frederik Muller, 1863-1882. The Miller etching is listed in vol. 1, p. 48, no. 134, and is titled Moord te Haarlem door de Spanj. LC call number: DJ114.M9. This same plate was used again, without the German verse at the bottom, to illustrate a book by Michael Aitsinger (Eytzinger), De Leone Belgico ..., published in Cologne in 1583. The plate of Haerlem appears on pages [164-165]. Rare Book and Special Collections Division. Rosenwald Collection. LC call number: DH187.E95. The New York Public Library has several hundred plates from different sets of Hogenberg's historical series of prints. The catalogue entries for Franz Hogenberg in the National Union Catalog Pre-1956 Imprints (vol. 250, pp. 590-591) on the different sets of Hogenberg's prints in the New York Public Library provide excellent summaries of these series, their history of publication, and bibliographic references. This image of Haerlem is reproduced in volume 2, plate 1114 in Kulturgeschichtliches Bilderbuch aus drei Jahrhunderten. Picture Book of the Graphic Arts, 1500-1800. 6 vols. Munich: Knorr & Hirth, 1882-1890. Reissued New York: B. Blom, 1972. LC call number: NE430.H57 Folio. [back to article]
3. For additional biographical information, see Christine van Mulders, "Franz (Frans) Hogenberg," in Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online (subscription only). For examples of Hogenberg's work, see F. W. H. Hollstein et al. Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts ca. 1450-1700, Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1949- ; vol. 9, pp. 50-55. Library of Congress. Prints and Photographs Division. LC call number: NE663.H6. [back to article]