St. Lawrence Cathedral, Rotterdam, Antique Engraving after G. Balmer, circa 1834

The great church of Saint Lawrence in Rotterdam rises above a busy canal in this upright view. Its massive square tower, with clock faces and tall Gothic openings, stands against a sky full of driven cloud, while the long dark body of the church, its steep roofs and traceried windows, fills the left of the composition.

Life on the water fills the foreground. A rowing boat carries a family, a mother holding her child close, past moored barges whose sails and cloths hang out to dry. Along the quay, workers load bundles onto carts, and figures gather at the foot of the church. A tall house with shuttered windows stands on the corner at right, and ducks paddle in the calm water near a stone landing.

The lettering names the church as St. Lawrence Cathedral, Rotterdam, and states that the plate was engraved by H. Winkles from an original drawing by G. Balmer, the English landscape painter George Balmer. The imprint is that of Simpkin and Marshall, Stationers Court, and J.W. Stevens of Derby Street, Kings Cross, London. The building is the Laurenskerk, the principal Gothic church of the city, whose tower was one of the landmarks of old Rotterdam.

It is a steel engraving of fine quality, with strong contrasts between the shadowed church and the bright, broken sky, and careful detail in the boats and rigging.

A tall, narrow format that suits a stairwell, a hallway or a pair with another Dutch view, framed simply in dark wood.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.