Lot Essay
The Spaniards took Breda by surprise in 1581, but in 1590 the city was recaptured by Prince Maurits of Nassau through a still celebrated action of 68 picked men concealed under turf in a boat. The city was captured again by the Spaniards under Spinola after a ten month siege in 1625, a victory celebrated by Velazquez's picture in the Prado, Madrid.
On 21 July 1637 Frederik Hendrik of Orange laid siege to Breda and on 6 October Gomore de Fourdin, Governor of the Spanish Government, surrendered. Breda was ceded to Holland by the Treaty of Westphalia in Münster in 1638. The man in the carriage would seem to be de Fourdin. Cappuchins from the city on the right carry the Cross, the tower of the Onze Lieve Vrouwen Church of Breda beyond.
A detail of the anonymous print after the present lot is illustrated, A.V.M. Berman and others, Geschiedenis van Breda, II, Aspecten van de stedelijke historie 1568-1795, Schiedam, 1977, fig. 11.
On 21 July 1637 Frederik Hendrik of Orange laid siege to Breda and on 6 October Gomore de Fourdin, Governor of the Spanish Government, surrendered. Breda was ceded to Holland by the Treaty of Westphalia in Münster in 1638. The man in the carriage would seem to be de Fourdin. Cappuchins from the city on the right carry the Cross, the tower of the Onze Lieve Vrouwen Church of Breda beyond.
A detail of the anonymous print after the present lot is illustrated, A.V.M. Berman and others, Geschiedenis van Breda, II, Aspecten van de stedelijke historie 1568-1795, Schiedam, 1977, fig. 11.