Large view of the city of Leiden by the Amsterdam engraver and publisher Leonardus Schenk. The viewer observes the city from the south, from between the city's Koe and Zijl gates. In the background several windmills and a few characteristic buildings are identified by name in the engraving, including the university, the library, the Pieterskerk, the Town Hall, the Mare kerk, the "Burcht" (the fort), and the Hooglandse kerk. On the quay outside the wall, groups of people walk, sporadically passed by small boats on the nearby city moat. In the foreground we see a typical Dutch landscape, with grazing cattle, farm workers, a loaded hay cart and haystacks in the field.
We know of several other wall prints by Schenk depicting local situations with almost photographic detail. Thanks to this detail important socio-historical aspects have been passed on to later generations giving these prints an important cultural meaning today.
A few spots, formerly folded, otherwise in very good condition. Overvoorde, Catalogus van de prentverzameling der Gemeente Leiden (1906), no. 640; Waller, Biogr. woordenb. Noord Ned. graveurs, p. 287.