Just like Marcus Gerards' 16th-century city plan, this painting is a propaganda tool. Hendrik van Minderhout commissioned it from the city in 1665, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Handelskom.
Around 1600, Archdukes Albrecht and Isabella launched a programme to restore the Flemish ports and dig canals between Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, Nieuwpoort and Dunkirk. One of them was the Ostend Vaart, between Ostend and Bruges. At its extremity, Bruges constructed a large harbour bay in 1664, with wharfs, shipyards and warehouses. The city thought big and was sure that its medieval glory days would soon return...