Jan Brandes: Brandes estate outside of Batavia (1785)

(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

A watercolor made by the Dutch pastor, draftsman and watercolorist Jan Brandes (1743 - 1808) . Jan Brandes was a Lutheran pastor who went to Indonesia (then a a Dutch colony known as Dutch East Indies) where he was a pastor in Batavia (now Jakarta). During his stay there from 1779 to 1785 Jan Brandes made lots of drawings and watercolor of his family, buildings, plants, animals, locals etc. These have been compiled into two albums of which this piece is an example. The painting shows the estate of the Brandes family in Indonesia near Batavia. According to the text Jan Brandes stayed here after the death of his mother from June 7, 1780 until August 26, 1785. Watercolour from 1785.