The City Walls of Utrecht by the "Plompetoren"
1763
Medium
Pen and black ink, with brush and gray wash, on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
21.4 × 32.5 cm (8 7/16 × 12 13/16 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
142569
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Delicately and fastidiously wrought, this view of the bend in a canal documents a specific place and time. Liender, who preferred topographical and architectural subjects throughout his career, drew this view of the Utrecht city walls with the Plompetoren (Hulking Tower) on several occasions. The knife-edge precision in varying the saturation of the ink and wash helps create the illusion of the glassy surface of the canal at the lower center of this drawing. Despite the care with which the struc...