Signed and inscribed with the title in pen and grey ink I.I. Bylaert fect (lower right corner) and on the margin Gezigt van de Stad Delft, van de Schiete zien

Pen and grey ink and wash

173 x 208 mm. (6 x 8 in.)

This view was popular among artists in the 17th and 18th centuries. The famous painted View of Delft by Vermeer is well known, though the topography in the painting was much altered. Our drawing shows the Schie in the foreground, with the Schiedam Gate to the left and the Rotterdam Gate to the right of the bridge over the Oude Delft at center. The tower of the Nieuwe Kerk appears behind the Rotterdam Gate, right of center. Other images of the same area include a drawing by Ludolf Bakhuizen in the Amsterdams Historisch Museum collection, and another in the same collection of the Schiedam Gate by Jan de Bisschop. Much closer in composition, although with significant differences, are the drawings by Abraham Rademaker in the Museum Het Prinsenhof in Delft.1 Dr Erik Loeffler has pointed out that our drawing copies a print by Cornelis Pronk [Figure 1], which in turn is a copy after a drawing by Jan Caspar Phillips from 1742. It was typical of 18th century artists to copy works of their colleagues or indeed earlier artists. Bijlaerts drawings are very rare, as indeed are his paintings. There is a painting of Village Scene with representations of 71 proverbs in the Rijksuniversiteit, in Leiden.