Wandelen over de Utrechtse stadswal. Tekeningen van toen en foto’s van nu

Saftleven

Laurens Schoemaker

Equipped with drawing paper and black chalk, Herman Saftleven (1609-1685) often wandered along Utrecht’s ramparts and the Stadsbuitengracht (ring canal), to make images of his city. Over the course of some thirty years he made at least 150 drawings of the city walls, as well as views along them, or taken from the ramparts. On the basis of twenty of the artist’s drawings – and as many contemporary photos as a counterpart – you can take a walk around the centre of Utrecht. As you follow the five-kilometre route along the Stadsbuitengracht you find yourself momentarily transported back to seventeenth-century Utrecht.