The Rapenburg, Leiden, three Days after the Explosion of a Powder Ship on 12 January 1807
1807-01-15
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
8; 114; 86
About this artwork
signature, date and inscription: ‘I. Jelgerhuis Rz. Acteur aan den Schouwburg te Amsterdam fecit. Het Raepenburg te Leyden. 15 Januari 1807.’
Art Historical Context
This striking oil on canvas captures the devastated Rapenburg canal in Leiden just three days after a catastrophicpowder ship explosion on January 12, 1807. The disaster destroyed hundreds of homes and claimed numerous lives, leaving a scene of rubble and ruin that Johannes Jelgerhuis recorded with remarkable speed. Painted on the spot or from fresh sketches, the work serves as both visual record and eyewitness testimony to one of the Netherlands’ most shocking early-nineteenth-century tragedies. Jelgerhuis, who signed the canvas as “acteur aan den Schouwburg te Amsterdam,” balanced his theat...
About the Artist
Johannes Jelgerhuis · 1770–1836
Johannes Jelgerhuis (1770-1836) was a multifaceted Dutch artist who achieved distinction both as a painter and as an actor, representing the interconnection between visual and performing arts in early nineteenth-century Netherlands. Born in Leeuwarden in 1770 and dying in Amsterdam on October 6, 1836, Jelgerhuis pursued parallel careers that enriched each other, bringing a theatrical understanding...