Verbranding van De Post van de Neder-Rhijn op schavot voor stadhuis te Arnhem op 22 april 1786 - Jan Lucas van der Beek

A detailed historical etching depicting the public burning of the radical newspaper 'De Post van de Neder-Rhijn' in Arnhem in 1786.

This etching by Jan Lucas van der Beek documents a specific political event in the Netherlands during the late eighteenth century. The scene depicts the public burning of the newspaper 'De Post van de Neder-Rhijn' on a scaffold erected before the town hall in Arnhem on 22 April 1786. This publication was a radical Patriot journal, and its destruction by fire was a symbolic act of censorship carried out by local authorities during a period of intense political friction between the Patriots and the Orangists.

Van der Beek captures the event with the precision typical of eighteenth-century documentary printmaking. The composition is structured around the central scaffold, where the executioner or official oversees the burning of the papers. A crowd of onlookers gathers below, their figures rendered in period-appropriate attire, providing a sense of scale and social context to the scene. The architecture of the Arnhem town hall serves as the backdrop, with figures observing the proceedings from the upper windows.

Technically, the work relies on fine, controlled lines to define the textures of the stone building, the wooden structure of the scaffold, and the varied clothing of the spectators. The artist uses cross-hatching to create depth and shadow, particularly in the lower foreground where the crowd stands. This print functions as a visual record of the political unrest that preceded the Batavian Revolution. It offers a glimpse into the methods of state control and public dissent in the Dutch Republic. The work is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, reflecting its value as a historical document of Dutch political life. The print provides a clear view of the social stratification of the time, from the officials on the balcony to the common citizens gathered on the cobblestones below.