Eenentwintich verscheyden manieren van fortificatie

In 1593, the painter Adriaan Conflans began an illustrated manuscript on Dutch fortification construction, titled Eenentwintich verscheyden manieren van fortificatie (KW 128 A 27). He intended to offer the work to Maurice of Nassau, the Stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland. That same year, the latter had successfully besieged and captured Geertruidenberg. Due to a trap, Conflans was unable to complete his treatise until 1594.

With his fortress atlas, Conflans attempted to provide insight into how fortifications could be constructed in the Netherlands. After all, the marshy soil and numerous waterways in our regions called for adapted defensive works. Conflans drew 21 models of fortresses, in all likelihood based on Italian examples by Francesco de Marchi, among others. The drawings are particularly beautifully executed, but in practice, they correspond only to a limited extent with the military reality of the time. The final depiction, a fortress in the shape of a clawing Dutch lion, is exemplary of the rather symbolic character of the manuscript.

The Siege of Geertruidenberg takes center stage on the opening page of Conflans’ manuscript. The city is depicted in an allegorical cartouche, while at the top, the personification of Fame (Fama) proclaims the praise of the House of Orange. On either side appear the four cardinal virtues: Prudence and Justice on the one hand, and Fortitude and Temperance on the other. At the bottom, the frame is filled with attributes of war and peace. In the foreground, two orange trees grow, a reference to Maurice’s motto: Tandem fit surculus arbor (“Finally, the sapling becomes a tree”). In this way, Conflans makes it clear that his work should be viewed not only as a technical treatise on fortification construction, but also as a tribute to the military and political success of the young prince.

The manuscript was actually presented to the prince. It aligned perfectly with his interest in fortification and military theory. Conflans's treatise was therefore included in a collection of military works that Maurice of Nassau compiled as part of his warfare against Spain. It formed part of the seventeenth-century Orange-Nassau library and thus ended up in the collection of the KB.