The Demolishing of Tangier, 1683
Anglo-Dutch School
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1683 (after)
Materials
oil on canvas
Measurements
1727 x 2438 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Dyrham, Gloucestershire
NT 453737
Caption
The Moroccan city of Tangier was acquired as an English colony in 1661, as part of the dowry of King Charles II's Portuguese bride, Catherine of Braganza. The city commanded a strategic position at the point of entry into the Mediterranean and played an important role in the advancement of circum-Atlantic trade. However, amidst growing concerns about the cost of maintining the colony, and increasing hostility from local Moorish communities, it was abandoned in February 1684. Prior to its evacuation and return to local rule, Tangier was destroyed by English forces in November 1683. An eyewitness report, published in London in 1683, described this event as 'The Demolishing of Tangier'. Corresponding with this contemporary account, the painting depicts canons firing at the battlements while local Moors watch in astonishment from a nearby hillside. It is not known when this painting entered the collection at Dyrham Park, but it would have been an appropriate picture for the house's owner, William Blathwayt, who was appointed 'Secretary at War' in 1683.
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Demolishing of Tangier, 1683, Anglo-Dutch School, late 17th century. A bird's-eye prospect depicting the English colony of Tangier, on the north African coast. The painting is thought to portray the deliberate destruction of the colony by English forces in 1683, prior to its abandonment and return to local rule in 1684. Rising smoke can be seen where canons blast the city's battlements. Local Moors watch the events from an elevated position in the foreground. As long as it has been in the collection at Dyrham, this work has been considered as a pendant to a painting of 'The Siege of La Rochelle, 1628' (inv. 453736).
Provenance
Recorded at Dyrham Park since at least 1765, when put up for sale by William III Blathwayt (1719-1787) along with other pictures from Dyrham, first day of the sale, lot 28; subsequently returned to Dyrham Park; thence by descent; Indigenous collection purchased by the Ministry of Works in 1956 and given to Dyrham Park in 1961
Credit line
Dyrham Park, The Blathwayt Collection (acquired by the Ministry of Works via the National Land Fund in 1956, and transferred to the National Trust)
Makers and roles
Anglo-Dutch School, artist British (English) School, artist
References
Moore 2014, Peter Moore, 'Conflicting Perspectives' in National Trust Historic House & Collections Annual (Apollo) 2014, pp. 34 -39 Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution (Ed. Margarette Lincoln), National Maritime Museum, 20th November 2015 - 28th March 2016, Cat. 101, p.189