Damaskus in Syrien

Title

Damaskus in Syrien

Decorative total view of Damaskus with figurative scenes in the foreground.

ca. 1670

Artist

Bouttats (1640-1695-96)

Gaspar Bouttats (c. 1650–1696), Antwerp, was a Flemish engraver and etcher. He specialized in: Book engravings (title pages, illustrations), City views (e.g. Amsterdam, Bergen op Zoom, Deventer, Leiden), Topographical scenes (cities, fortifications, landscapes), Historical scenes (e.g. the assassination of Henry IV), Portraits, and Maps (e.g. Polonia Regnum). Many of his engravings were based on drawings by Jan Peeters I, a well-known draughtsman of topographical views. At the time, Antwerp was a major European center for book printing, map production, and copper engraving. There was a high demand for printed city views, war reports, fortification plans, and maps—driven by wars, trade, and growing scientific interest. His works are now held in museums such as the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Historical Description

Syria is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest. In English, the name "Syria" was formerly synonymous with the Levant (known in Arabic as al-Sham), while the modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the 3rd millennium BC. Aleppo and the capital city Damascus and are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.