Zwolle, the birthplace of Philippe Smit, is a medieval city of Holland. In the 15th century, when it became part of the powerful Hanseatic League, it experienced a period of great prosperity.
During the industrialization of the 19th century, large windmills appeared on the high and partially dismantled ancient ramparts, which had lost their usefulness.
This early work gives us an historic view of the ancient Keersluisbrug bridge with, behind it, the De Herstelder mill, built in 1807 on the Eekwal, and, in the background, the Jufferenmolen, from around 1825, which previously stood on the Jufferennwal.
An old postcard (fig. 1), for which the photographer selected a point of view more distant and an angle more to the right but with an almost identical framing of the bridge and the mills, is found in the archives of the current owner of the painting. Whether this is based on the postcard is yet to be verified.
