ABSTRACT
In 1608, the painter Isaac van den Blocke, a Danziger with Netherlandish roots, completed a challenging assignment. The Danzig municipal council had commissioned a painting that was to be an all-out portrayal of its power, autonomy and connections. The self-representation of the Danzig municipal council, commissioned at the very height of the city's prosperity as one of the main European centres of exchange of western and eastern goods. In addition to universality and connectedness, the painting displays some local details, like the gesture of a Polish nobleman shaking hands with a Danzig trader after a concluded business deal or the competing high towers of the city hall and St Mary's. The geographical location of Danzig was certainly advantageous for urban growth, and one of the prerequisites for its rise as a late medieval and early modern centre of commercial power.
