Imagined attack on Makassar, October 1655

According to the inscription, this drawing depicts an attack as it should have taken place in October 1655, when a VOC fleet led by Arnold de Vlamingh appeared before Makassar, on its way back from Maluku to Batavia. As some of the ships needed for the attack did not arrive, it did not take place.

Interestingly, the depicted attack shows a strong resemblance to the attack under the command of Johan van Dam that took place in 1660. See e.g. the print of that attack from Wouter Schouten;s travel journal (Rijksmuseum, RP-P-OB-47-462, included in this database), or the coloured drawing by Fred Woldemar in the collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (not yet included in the AMH, but available through their own website.) This makes it likely that the artist based himself on a drawing depicting that attack.

Part of an illustrated manuscript version of Livinus Bor, Amboinse Oorlogen, describing the events of the Great Ambon War (1651-1656), and defending and glorifying the acts of the VOC commander in this conflict, Arnold de Vlamingh van Oudshoorn.

See also: Koninklijke Bibliotheek Brussel, Ms. 17982, fol. 93.