Wenceslaus Hollar

Prospect of York Castle

Prospect of York Castle by Wenceslaus Hollar

Artwork Detail

The English colonists of Tangier rechristened the old Portuguese ortifications with familiar names, including Peterborough Tower and York Castle. The king’s palace at Whitehall lent its name to a resort beyond the main fortifications that included a bowling green and arbour. Fashionable with the senior officials and their families, Hollar depicted Whitehall with a game of lawn bowls in progress. Several of Hollar’s views show the Mole (or Mould), the masonry structure with which the English created an artificial harbour. The stone was quarried nearby and carried to the site by horse-drawn carts. Construction began in 1663 and the Mole was 437 metres long when work ceased in 1680. This remarkable piece of engineering was blown up when the English evacuated Tangier in 1683.

Title
Prospect of York Castle
Artist/creator
Wenceslaus Hollar
Production date
1670-1673
Medium
etching
Dimensions
125 x 215 mm
Credit line
Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, bequest of Dr Walter Auburn, 1982
Accession no
M1982/1/3/137
Other ID
1191 Pennington Catalogue Raisonné
Copyright
No known copyright restrictions
Department
International Art
Display status
Not on display

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