Plattegrond van Coevorden, 1672 1673 - 1699

Curator: Here we have a fascinating engraving from the late 17th century, sometime between 1673 and 1699 to be exact, a bird’s-eye view map of Coevorden, currently held in the Rijksmuseum collection. Editor: Whoa, look at that crazy star shape! It's almost hypnotic, like some bizarre snowflake or a fortress designed by an avant-garde alien architect. Curator: It’s more practical than it looks! It reflects the Baroque era's focus on fortification and defensive city planning. These geometric shapes and sharp angles were intentionally designed to maximize a city's defensive capabilities. The city walls are shaped into these angled bastions to allow defenders to cover all approaches with cannon fire. Editor: Still looks wild! You have the city tucked into the center. Is that meant to look like radiating power or strength or something? It makes me think about control and maybe even a little bit of paranoia. Curator: Perhaps, or maybe it's just about order. Look how meticulously everything is laid out—the roads, the buildings within the fortress, even the landscape features plotted all around. The engraver wants us to understand the calculated effort behind protecting the people within. And not just within the central star fort, but extending out into those regions around the edges. Editor: You can almost smell the gunpowder! Seriously though, I didn’t realize cartography could be such a… statement. Curator: Precisely! Engravings such as these not only document geographical locations but also mirror the period's prevailing ideologies about power, control, and order, and of course aesthetics as you highlighted earlier! It’s quite thought-provoking how they marry art and engineering, isn't it? Editor: It is. Makes you wonder about all those hidden stories underneath the neat lines, doesn’t it? Almost feels a little haunted, even if just by history.