Speelman's conquest of Macassar from 1666 to 1669
Hooge, Romeyn de / Vondel, Joost van den
A bird's eye view of Macassar's outskirts depicting various skirmishes. In the background a sea channel with indigenous and Dutch ships. In the foreground a battle between horsemen and troops on foot armed with lances, daggers, swords, axes and guns. In the centre the massed ranks of an army with three platoons of lancers and several dozen men with guns and Dutch flags. Facing them is an army armed mostly with spears. A little more in the background fortifications, burning buildings and ships are depicted. At sea in the background we see the plumes of smoke emanating from the cannon on several Dutch three-masters and to the left a string of junks and smaller vessels.
At the top of the painting there are two detailed depictions of the battle with explanatory text and on either side the picture is flanked by the portraits of Speelman and the king of the Bougainese. In the centre a laurel wreath with monogram, flanked on two sides by two allegorical female figures with underneath the title of the painting on a scroll. The portrait on the left is accompanied by the inscription:De Heer Cornelis Speelman Raat van Indie out gouv op Cormandel Superintend Adm. velto: en Comm. province R.D. Prov[?].
The portrait on the right is captioned: Radja Palacca de Koningh der Bougies.
The left-hand detail of the battle shows the sea battle between a number of ships. In the background a city with several fires. The accompanying text reads: Glisson, Pannekoke, Battabarra, Barrambon etc. overweldicht.
The right-hand detail shows part of the battle outside the city walls, accompanied by the text: De hooftstat Samboupo en s Konings Hof stormende ingenomen.
Bottom left in the text portion of the plate is a poem by Vondel: Op zulk een Speelmans toon [etc].
Bottom right the text reads: Opgeoffert aan de Ed. Heeren, mijn Heeren de Bewinthebbers van de N.G. Oost Indische Maetschappy; door haer Ed. Ond. Dienaer Romeyn de Hooge.
Key: 1-16
Cf. Koninklijke Bibliotheek, inv.nr. 1049B13_030 and Nationaal Archief, inv.nr. VELH0619.96.
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