Rare drawings show Jakarta's past beauty

By Ida Indawati Khouw

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta residents today can thank a Danish soldier and artist for his legacy of a complete typography of what was then Batavia in the 18th century.

It's the past beauty of the Batavia landscape that shines through in the 50 original drawings of Johannes Rach (1720-1783), which are on display at the National Library in Central Jakarta from Tuesday to Thursday in cooperation with the Rijkmuseum of Amsterdam.

The drawings are part of the library's collection of 202 Rach works, some 50 of which are kept at Rijkmuseum, which will also be exhibited in the Netherlands and Denmark next year.

Reproductions of the works will be at the Jakarta Historical Museum (also known as Fatahillah Museum) in downtown Kota, from May 20 to Aug. 19.

More is in store; Rach's drawings of residences will be at the National Archives on Jl. Gajah Mada, Central Jakarta from Nov. 27 until Dec. 10.

Rach's drawings are worth a look because he documented the complete topography of the area, starting from the early site of Batavia (the Jakarta Bay), the Batavia castle built after the Dutch defeated Bantenese forces in 1619, the walled city of Batavia and Ommelanden (the outskirts of old Batavia, now Jakarta) as far as Pasar Senen in Central Jakarta and Jatinegara in East Jakarta.

People may be surprised by Rach's drawings showing Batavia was home to many great mansions on a scale of the grand homes of Europe.

Among them were the mansions of Governor-General P.A. van der Parra (1714-1775), who owned at least four estates. No contemporary building in the city perhaps compares for the sheer grandeur of his Weltevreden (the name means "very content"), which was located at what is today the site of Gatot Subroto Army Hospital in Central Jakarta.

Several homes dotted the compound's sprawling grounds, with playhouses and even a church and market. The main three-story mansion and its wings were adorned with eagles and other statues, in keeping with the overblown Rococo style which was the rage in Europe.

In the 19th century the Dutch moved their government from the old city to the area and Van der Parra's mansion was demolished, but the area was still known as Weltevreden in the early 20th century.

Using high quality paper imported from the Netherlands and with Chinese ink and water, Rach also depicted the elite residential area on Jacatra road, now bustling Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta, including the lavish Rococo entrance to the estate of wealthy Willem Hendrik van Ossenberg.

Statues of mythical figures and cherubs holding suns on the gateway are meant to signify the virtues of the family.

Similar beauty is found in the depiction of the Batavia castle, which was totally demolished in 1808, at present Jl. Tongkol in Kota. Rach paid attention to what was known as the Amsterdam Gate, a large and elaborately decorated building facing the City Hall complex (now the Jakarta History Museum).

The gate was flanked by large four story buildings which were the barracks for the main garrison guarding the castle.

In drawings of the walled city, Rach concentrated on the activities inside, like the markets, the canals and life surrounding the City Hall.

Batavia also had an observatory, owned by amateur astronomer Johan Maurits Mohr (1716-1775), located near the present Jin De Yuan temple in Chinatown area of Kota.

His drawing of the Pasar Senen area, with a row of simple shops owned by Chinese traders, shows it was already a trade center more than 200 years ago.

Rach, who came to Indonesia in 1762, was the kind of artist who relished detail, particularly about the lives of people. There are men bearing pikulan (poles) and women with dots on their faces, which was considered attractive at the time.

Rach also had a sense of humor, said Max de Bruijn, the historian and consultant for Rijkmuseum.

"His drawings also often contain caricature situations, which must have been considered funny at that time, such as a urinating soldier or vomiting sailor."

As he was a soldier in the Dutch East India Company (VOC), more 50 percent of Rach's drawings contain military elements, said Bas Kist, senior curator of the Rijkmuseum's Department of Dutch History.

In depicting soldiers, Rach followed the common military fashion of having broad moustaches and the long tailed wig with an upturned end (if soldiers had insufficient hair they were expected to use a wig).

Rach's works were sometimes copies made by him or his assistants because the artist also made a living through selling the drawings.

All the works bore long scrolls on the top with information about the subject, "because it is not nice to write things in the drawings," Kist said, adding that the Dutch was sometimes incorrect due to Rach being a non-native speaker of the language.