Franz Xaver Habermann (1721-1796)
Detail: harbor, ship, boat, soldier, sailor, musket, anchor, cannon, workmen, drum, barrel, castle
View of Boston Harbor by Franz Xaver Habermann 1770
Posted by Kevin Carter on September 16, 2015
5 Responses to View of Boston Harbor by Franz Xaver Habermann 1770
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Beautiful, I am totally showing this to my students today!
I notice that the writing at the top appears to be backwards, as though it were a negative image, but th bottom does not. Do you know why this is?
Cheers!
My guess is that the top title is probably on the painting and when they do the engraving it is a mirror image of the painting, but the lower text is done later so it is the right way around.
thank you!
The “castle” seems oddly out of place
That castle in the background immediately grabbed my attention. I don’t remember there being a Medieval-style castle in Boston during the 1700s. There was a Castle Island located just off the coast where there was a small fort – it’s also where the British soldiers who participated in the Boston Massacre were imprisoned during their trial. But the fort on Castle Island was small, not a massive stone castle, and this image is clearly meant to represent the Boston mainland. I then thought that this might actually be a view of the town of Boston, Lincolnshire County, England. But Boston, England is located inland a few miles from the seacoast. If anybody can give me more info about that peculiar fort, I’d be grateful.