Brand van Crèvecoeur, 1673 1682 - 1684

Gaspar Bouttats made this print in 1673, depicting the burning of Crèvecoeur during the Franco-Dutch War. This was a period when control of land and waterways meant power and prosperity. Prints like this one served as both news reports and propaganda. Note how the image creates meaning through visual codes and historical associations. It was made in the Netherlands, a seafaring nation whose wealth depended on its navy and merchant shipping. Here we see a contrast between the chaos of the burning city and the orderly removal of goods, a contrast that subtly valorizes Dutch resilience. The print suggests the social conditions that shape artistic production in the early modern period, when printed images were a primary means of shaping public opinion. To understand this image better, we might consult contemporary news accounts, military records, and economic data. The meaning of this artwork is contingent on its social and institutional context, and it’s the historian’s role to illuminate that context.