In December 1938, Escher received a commission from the State of the Netherlands to make ten woodcuts of Delft for a book publication. There was a hefty sum in return: 800 guilders (about €7,500 today). In January 1939, he made a test woodcut, after which he received the final commission. The book never materialised, but the woodcuts did. In April 1939, Escher travelled almost daily by tram from his parents' home in The Hague to Delft. He then walked through the city, making drawings of locations suitable for a woodcut: the Oostpoort, the Old and New Church, the Town Hall and the Market Square. From the street, but sometimes he climbs to a higher spot to get a better vantage point. From the director of Municipal Works, he gets permission to climb the tower of the Oude Kerk, on rare occasions. During the summer months, he works out the drawings into woodcuts at home in Uccle.
The result is special because it is the only time he has made a series about a Dutch city. Nine woodcuts are now high-quality printed and finished in A5 format and can only be bought as a set for 10 euros at the museum shop of the Vermeer Centrum Delft.
