Franeker Bridge Accident, Three Etchings attributed to Jan de Visscher, c. 1665

An original antique set of three etchings, uncolored, circa 1665, telling the story of the bridge accident at Franeker in Friesland on 6 January 1665. The three sheets are sold together as one set and are not available separately. The plates are trimmed to an octagonal shape and carry no engraved title; each is mounted on an older backing sheet with a typed Dutch label beneath it. The labels read "Jan Maurits Graaf van Nassau 6 Jan.1665 van Leeuwarden van de begrafenis wederkerend van Willem Frederik Graaf van Nassau. Te Franeker in levensgevaar door het in storten van een brug" (Count Jan Maurits of Nassau, returning on 6 January 1665 from the funeral at Leeuwarden of Count Willem Frederik of Nassau, in danger of his life at Franeker through the collapse of a bridge), "De redding van Graaf Jan Maurits Te Franeker" (the rescue of Count Jan Maurits at Franeker) and "De dank van Graaf Jan Maurits te Franeker" (the thanksgiving of Count Jan Maurits at Franeker).

The first scene shows the collapse. A wooden drawbridge with its long balance beams spans a canal before a row of stepped gable houses, a long building and a tower with a flag. The deck has given way and horses and riders tumble into the water, while one rider on the far section clings to the hanging chain. Spectators crowd behind the railing at left, and a boy runs forward with a dog at lower left. The second scene shows the rescue at the same bridge. Men lean down from the broken deck at right to haul a rider and his horse out of the water, another man swims in the foreground, and loose horses swim in the canal behind. At lower left boys run up carrying ladders, a woman stands with her hands clasped, and figures on the far quay hurry with more ladders.

The third scene shows the thanksgiving. The view looks through the frame of the bridge, its beam lettered "S.P.Q.F.", down a street of tall houses. At the center a man kneels with his hands joined, looking upward, while companions bend toward him; others hold their hats, a rider sits on a horse at right, and a crowd gathers on both sides.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam records the thanksgiving composition as an etching by Jan de Visscher, published by Hugo Allard in Amsterdam in 1665, and holds a large sheet that combines the three successive scenes with a text by Jacob van der Does. Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen (1604 to 1679) had earlier governed Dutch Brazil for the West India Company. The compositions follow the event of 1665, but the printing date and plate states of these impressions have not been established, and an impression of the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century cannot be ruled out.

Trimmed, with diagonally cut corners; the plate marks are no longer present. Each sheet is attached to an older backing sheet by a narrow strip of adhesive down the center. Later labels and handwritten notes. Age toning and handling marks.

These are original antique prints, not modern reproductions. This item is sold unframed.