HENDRIK VAN MINDERHOUT | An aerial view of Ostend, with the Fort Saint Philippe and shipping on the Slijkens Sluice, and figures in the foreground 

Anonymous sale ('Property from a distinguished private collection'), London, Christie's, 4 December 2013, lot 104.

The present work shows an aerial view of the city of Ostend in approximately 1675. The Fort of Saint Philippe, which guarded the locks of the canal between Bruges and Ostend, is visible just left of centre with its crown-shaped supporting fort in front, and the sea and sand dunes are visible in the background behind the city. These fortifications were strengthened by Don Carlos de Gurrea a Borja, the Duke of Villa Hermosa in 1676. Ostend, which is strategically positioned on the North Sea coast, was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the Eighty Years’ War, which lasted for three years until 1604, when it became the last Dutch-held city in the southern Netherlands to fall to the Spanish. After this era, it became a thriving harbour, as seen here by the busy activity of the ships. The group of figures seen in the lower right foreground include Neptune and the so-called 'Maid of Flanders' who holds the flag of Flanders.

A similar panorama by Minderhout, on a much larger scale (oil on canvas, 171.5 x 244 cm.), is in the Groeningemuseum, Bruges (inv. no. 0000.GRO1284.I).¹ A signed version, also on a larger scale (oil on canvas, 163.8 x 231.1 cm.), was sold at Sotheby's, New York, 17 January 1992, lot 135. This composition was engraved by Gaspard Bouttats in 1675, providing an approximate date for this group of paintings. 

¹ https://zoeken.erfgoedbrugge.be/detail.php?nav_id=2-1&id=942554224&index=2&cmvolgnummer=