Toren op de wallen te Maastricht 1831 - 1904

Arnoud Schaepkens created this etching of a tower on the walls of Maastricht using ink on paper. Schaepkens was part of a nineteenth-century art world that saw the rise of landscape and genre painting as expressions of national identity and romantic nationalism. Here we see the artist's interest in local architecture, perhaps as a means to express the importance of the city's history. The image conveys a sense of the past, a visual record of the Netherlands' architectural heritage that also implies cultural pride and local identity. Images such as these were also made possible by institutions such as the Royal Academy of Art in Amsterdam, where artists were trained in techniques like etching, while also shaping their national outlook. Understanding this image better requires historical research that will reveal the social dynamics and institutional forces that shaped the artist's vision. It would be useful to examine the history of Maastricht and consider how the city’s fortifications figured into the imagination of local artists and inhabitants.