Rare drawings show Jakarta's past beauty

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.