The double-towered ruin of Brederode Castle appears, in reverse, in the horizontal etching with the same subject, included as no. 8 in the series of 18 prints entitled "Amoenissimae aiquot Reginunculae, et antiquorum momentorum ruinae" ("Some most pleasant landscapes and ruins of ancient monuments"). The series was published by Claes Jansz. Visscher (1587-1652) in Amsterdam in 1615. The Morgan sheet is one of only three drawings related to the print series. For a further discussion, see Robert Fucci, "Reflecting on Ruins: The Earliest Landscape Drawings by Jan van de Velde II," in Master Drawings 60/1 (2022), esp. pp. 15-16.
The sheet is of ninety-six drawings that the French architect and collector Hippolyte Destailleur apparently pasted into an empty quarto album. See also Recueil de Dessins (2006.27:1-96).
Inscribed at the upper right corner, in Destailleur's hand, in graphite, "Van de Velde". On the verso, at lower right, in Destailleur's hand, in graphite, "E. Van de Velde".
Watermark: none.
Sophie, of France, Madame, daughter of Louis XV, 1734-1782, former owner.
Destailleur, Hippolyte Alexandre Gabriel Walter, 1822-1893, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.