Friedrich I ondertekent het decreet voor de bouw van de kerk in Friedrichstadt

About this artwork

height 150 mm x width 89 mm

Art Historical Context

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki’s 1794 etching captures a pivotal moment of Prussian statecraft: King Frederick I signing decree that authorized construction of church in Friedrichstadt Created more than eight decades the event, the small print (150 × 89 mm) transforms an administrative act into a scene of enlightened governance, reflecting late-eighteenth-century interest in commemorating the foundations of the Prussian capital. Chodowiecki, a leading German printmaker of the Enlightenment, specialized in finely worked etchings that circulated historical and moral narratives to a broad audience. The medium’s capacity for precise line and delicate shading allowed him to render the king’s formal gesture, the gathered witnesses, and the architectural plans with clarity and intimacy, making the image suitable for book illustration or private collections. Though modest in scale, the etching underscores how visual storytelling helped shape collective memory of Berlin’s urban development. By revisiting Frederick I’s decree, Chodowiecki invited viewers to connect the city’s architectural heritage with ideals of order, piety, and royal patronage still resonant in the 1790s.

About the Artist

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki · 1726–1801

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki (1726–1801) was a German painter and printmaker of Polish-Huguenot descent who became the most celebrated graphic artist in 18th-century Germany. Born in Danzig (now Gdańsk), he created approximately 2,000 etchings that serve as an invaluable visual record of German bourgeois life during the Enlightenment. Largely self-taught, Chodowiecki moved to Berlin in 1743 and ach...