Balinese Girl in Aquatint A

An interesting and one of the few prints that show Batavia how it looked like in the mid-18th century. The Dutch  rulers followed the Dutch architactel way of building the houses, roads and canals. The only different was that in Batavia the build sunshades on they buildings. Showing in the print the terrible massacre of the Chinese that occurred in Batavia October 9th 1740, engraved by Adrian van der Laan of Amsterdam. The print shows Dutch troops firing cannon into Chinese houses on the banks of Kali Besar, slaughtering people as they fled their burning homes and waiting in boats to kill those that sought escape in the river; it is estimated that some 10,000 Chinese were killed. The massacre was prompted by tales of Chinese atrocities following the death of 50 Dutch soldiers at the hands of enraged Chinese sugar plantation workers who were protesting about Government repression and the declining sugar prices. This dramatic event is considered as the end of the Dutch golden age.

Size image: 39 cm x 53 cm