Terugkeer van stadhouder Willem V op 20 september 1787
Medium
etching
Dimensions
59; 96
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
verzamelaarsmerk, verso, gestempeld: Lugt 2228
Art Historical Context
Daniel Nikolaus Chodowie, a prolific German engraver and illustrator active in the late 18th century, captured a pivotal moment in Dutch history his 1788 etching *Terugkeer van stadder Willem V op 20 september 1787*Return of Stadtholder V on September 20, 1787"). Thisutive work (96 × 59 mm) depicts the triumphant homecoming of Willem V, Prince of Orange, to The Hague after his exile during the Patriot Revolt—a turbulent period of political unrest in the Dutch Republic 1780 to 1787. Prussian forces, led by Willem's sister Wilhelmina, had intervened to quash the Patriot uprising, restoring Orangist rule and marking a turning point before the later Batavian Revolution. Chodowiecki's etching exemplifies the era's popular print culture, where small-scale reproductions like this one spread news and propaganda swiftly across Europe. His precise line work and narrative detail, hallmarks of his neoclassical style, convey the crowd's jubilation and the stadtholder's procession, blending historical documentation with dramatic flair. Produced just a year after the event, it served as both commemoration and political statement, reflecting the era's fervor for engraved vignettes in books, pamphlets, and collections. Bearing a collector's mark (Lugt 2228) on the verso, this intimate print highlights the enduring appeal of Chodowiecki's output, which numbered over 2,000 works. It invites visitors to ponder how art amplified the echoes of revolution and restoration in everyday 18th-century life.
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...