Örbyhus Castle, near Uppsala — Dahl & Boote

A magnificent copperplate engraving of Örbyhus Castle near Uppsala, set in its formal gardens beside a meandering Uppland waterway.

Original title: ÖÖRBY. prope Upsaliam. Drawn by Samuel Dahl, engraved by Richard Boote. From Suecia Antiqua et Hodierna. Published in Stockholm, c. 1700.

Örbyhus is most famous as the prison-fortress where King Erik XIV died in 1577, allegedly poisoned with pea soup. By the time of Dahlbergh's survey, the medieval keep had been incorporated into a new Baroque country seat for the Vasaborg family, an example of the antiquarian-modernising spirit that runs throughout the Suecia plates.

Copperplate engraving. Sheet size approximately 34.0 × 45.0 cm. Very Good.