Jan Saenredam: Map of Holland and Utrecht (1589)

(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Jan Saenredam (1565-1607) was a Dutch engraver and cartographer. This map is an example of his work. The map shows the western part of the Netherlands - called 'Holland' (today the provinces North-Holland, South-Holland, part of Zeeland, Utrecht). If you compare the map with the situation today you will notice large pieces of land missing in this map. These gaps are large lakes such as The Beemster, the Purmer, the Haarlemmermeer, Brasem meer, The Schermer and The Waert. All these lakes were reclaimed in the centuries after this drawing (in Dutch these reclamed lands are called 'polders') - the Beemster was reclaimed in the period 1609-1612, the Purmer was reclaimed in 1618, the Schermer is1633-1635 etc. Engraving from 1589.