Forschungsstelle "Westfälischer Friede": Dokumentation

DOCUMENTATION | Exhibitions: 1648 - War and Peace in Europe
Essay Volumes > Tome II: Art and culture

EYMERT-JAN GOOSENS
Monuments to Peace in the Netherlands

I. The Amsterdam Town Hall

1. Introduction

"Peace in your fortresses; prosperity in your palaces2 (Vrede zij in uwe Vestinghe; welvaren in uwe Paleysen). This motto graced the Olyfkrans der Vreede, a book published in 1649 which recorded the festivities held in Amsterdam to celebrate the Treaty of Münster. [1] Also included in this compilation were several poems dedicated to the peace it guaranteed. The poets presented the treaty as a triumph for Amsterdam, whose delegates at Münster had been able to curtail the influence of Stadholder Frederik Hendrik. The growth of the city's international trade, which had flourished in a short period, was guaranteed at Münster, and the States General's blockade of the Scheldt before the harbour of Antwerp, Holland's chief competitor, was maintained.

Two of the poems on the peace achieved at Münster in the book are also dedicated to the plans for a new town hall, which Amsterdam wanted to build to secure its place among the most important European cities. While there were only a few drawn designs and a wooden model of the intended town hall at the time, the poets of the book, including Joost van den Vondel and Reyer Anslo, nonetheless boasted of the future administrative centre as if it already existed. One of Anslo's poems in the Olyfkrans with the telling title 'Het Gekroonde Amsterdam', or 'Amsterdam Crowned', gives expression to a generally held feeling, namely that the building of the town hall heralded a Golden Age. The end of the war allowed greater financial scope for such large-scale projects. When during construction of the new town hall the old one burned down in July of 1652, the paper De Hollantze Mercurius reported that this event was not that unfortunate, because '... a renowned city no longer deserved a session hall of wood, but a statehouse of marble...'. [2] While the old town hall was not made of wood, the exaggeration betrays how the city's mounting prestige was perceived. The new town hall had to give expression to the rapidly growing importance of Amsterdam as a centre of a world empire based on free trade.

Its construction, however, was spurred not only by the city's increasing prominence: there was a practical reason for this as well. Along with the expanding resident population - the population increased sixfold in the course of a century - numerous new offices had been established in a short time, which had to be accommodated in the town hall. [3] They were intended to relieve the work pressure on the traditional bailiff, aldermen, comptrollers, officers of orphans' estates, and burgomasters, and included an Office for Marital Affairs, a Treasury, and an Insurance Office. These were all housed in adjoining premises, whereby the town hall in its entirety became increasingly inconvenient and more closely resembled a bureaucratic maze than an efficiently functioning administrative centre. Accordingly, the new town hall was meant to become an orderly administrative hub with various, clearly distinguished tasks. In addition, the city fathers' hierarchy - inspired by that of the Roman republic - had to be emphasised. After all, during the time of the republic the Roman empire had been at its administrative best, and was therefore the model most worthy of imitation. In 1662 an Amsterdam city chronicler wrote: 'In Rome, the consular government was deemed the best ... because the royal and sovereign powers oppressed too greatly the welfare of the civil states. [...] the burgomasters, aldermen and other councilmen consist of the best, richest and most distinguished and respectable [members] of the people, and this [type of government] by far surpasses the sovereign power, as being the most salutary and useful government for the welfare of a city and country.' [4]

The design for the new town hall was approved in the period preceding the Treaty of Münster. Only after the peace negotiations commenced in 1646 did it have a true chance of being built. Before discussing this creation of the architect Jacob van Campen, let us go back in history to see what preceded the laying of the foundation stone in 1648, the year of the peace treaty 1648.



2. The building plans

The earliest preserved mention of the building plans by the city council dates from 1639. It is found in volume 17 of the 'resolutieboeken', or Resolution Books of the then council, the Amsterdam 'vroedschap'. The council decreed that '... as the town hall is relatively dilapidated in many places, and to such an extent that it is feared that at some time or another an accident might occur, one could well imagine that rather than [repairing] the old building we make a new one...'. [5] In 1639, thus, the sorry condition of the old town hall was an important consideration. Peace was still a long time away, as was a town hall design which incorporated peace as a theme. On the other, these years did witness growing support for ending the war. As of 1630 primarily Amsterdam - the country's trade centre - championed a policy of peace. It was generally understood that prosperity could best be attained through peaceful trade contacts, rather than by squandering money on the war, which was a bottomless financial pit. Initially the city stood alone in its resolve: other cities and provinces, as well as Stadholder Frederik Hendrik had no interest in peace. Even the States General wanted to continue the war. [6]

However the proponents of peace increased, chiefly when at the end of the 1630s the borders of the Republic were secured on virtually all fronts. Many were relieved when the peace negotiations were commenced in Münster.

An unknown number of designs for the town hall were reviewed between 1639 and the laying of the foundation stone in 1648. [7] Nothing was left to chance in the selection of its design, namely with respect to size, appearance and lay-out. The names of Pieter Post, [8] Philips Vingboons and Jacob van Campen are found in the contemporary records of the city's expenses. In the calls for tender, other, unknown architects, including one with the initials S.C. (or G.) L. also played a role. [9] Of what must have been numerous designs, we only know those by Van Campen, Vingboons and the anonymous S.C.L.

Despite all of the documents, the drawn and printed designs, and the bills, many questions still remain unanswered. For instance, what requirements did the designs have to meet? From a profile sketch and a council decree we know only the specified length and width of the foundation. Furthermore, no correspondence or any other document by the commissioner to the contending architects have been preserved. This information was probably lost when the old town hall went up in flames in 1652. From a newspaper report of the conflagration it appeared that a man threw 'armen vol papieren en registers' (armloads of papers and registers) from the window of the burning building. [10]

A few of the city councillors' stipulations, including several concerning the building style, can be deduced from the material still available. Noteworthy is that all of the designs by Van Campen, Vingboons and the unknown monogrammist are classicising in style. In addition, we see a virtually symmetrical plan and elevation, as well as corner pavilions projecting above the roof, and an inner court (or courts) that also served as a light shaft for the rooms and galleries in the central part of the building block.

These sources make it clear that the new town hall had to be large and modelled on famous ancient classic structures. Like the consuls and senators before them, the burgomasters and the councilmen must have felt like the governors of a world empire in their new accommodations.



3. The resolution

On 18 June 1648, thirteen days after the peace treaty was proclaimed, the entire city council gathered for an important meeting concerning the proposed construction of the new town hall. From the preserved final agreement we know that the go-ahead for the actual building activities was given on this day: 'and it is understood that work will be commenced with due speed and that progress will be made.' [11] The die was cast, but not before a change was made to the building's orientation: 'in order to present a work of such expense to its best advantage, [and give it] standing and esteem, and in order to enlarge the market further, the ground [=orientation] must be changed in the width on the Dam, rather than be extended in the length...' (fig. 1). [12] A decision was made to position the building breadthwise, rather than lengthwise, with the front facade facing Dam square. [13] While the architect whose design accords with this is not named in this document, the decision implied that the commission would go to Jacob van Campen. He was, incidentally, responsible for the only design with a broadened front facade. Van Campen's drawn designs (shortly thereafter published in printed form), were not only admired by the magistrates but also by the Amsterdam poets, as mentioned earlier (fig. 2). One of them, Anslo, was inspired to write a lyrical poem praising to the skies both Van Campen and his design:

In the poem, Anslo voiced the suspicion that with this building Amsterdam would become Europe's leading city. Of the drawings by Van Campen on which the poet based his opinion, seven have withstood the ravages of time. In addition to the architectural drawings there are two sketches for the completion of the tympanums sculpted around 1660, and a design for a part of the ceiling painting for the Burgerzaal, the building's central hall. [15]

Fortunately, many drawn designs by Van Campen that did not survive are also known, namely in the form of print series of studies by his hand that were elaborated by other artists and which appeared in 1650 and 1661. [16] These engravings show not only the plans, but also the fronts of the building and a large part of the interior. They provide a good idea of the building Van Campen must have had in mind, from the rough elevation and division to the smallest detail (fig. 2). Another interesting object for the study of a design with peace as a theme is the wooden model Van Campen presented to the burgomasters for assessments. Its sculptural elements refer to universal peace. Together with all of the paper designs, the model must have made such an impression that the 'bouwheren', or commissioners, after ' (...) rypen overlegh, onder veel ghetekende Papieren en Modellen, de waardighste (...) koozen, die door Iacob van Campen gheordineert waaren (...)' (... ripe deliberation, chose from among many drawn papers and models the most worthy ... that were designed by Iacob van Campen ...). [17]



3. The first stone

Before looking more closely at the peace symbolism in the building, let us pause at the laying of the foundation stone on 28 October 1648 and the monument to it erected there later. The silver trowel used to lay the first stone is in the Amsterdams Historisch Museum. At the time a print was also issued and a commemorative coin was minted. Two stained glass windows including a scene of the Spanish surrender of power and the family coats-of-arms of all of the former burgomasters were erected in the Oude Kerk. To eternalise the date of origin a monument was later installed in the Vierschaar, one of the tribunals in the town hall. On a black marble stone, a so-called touchstone, with a gilded inscription, stands a full-length statue of the Maid of Amsterdam (fig. 3). At the base of the stone are two river gods representing the IJ and the Amstel, the rivers that flow together on either side of the building. The Latin text was written by burgomaster Cornelis de Graef and underscores the importance of the Treaty of Münster for the construction of the town hall: 'On 29 October 1648, in the year when the war was ended, which the United Netherlandish peoples waged with the three powerful Philips, kings of Spain, on land and sea, in almost every part of the world during more than eighty years, and after having ensured the fatherland's liberty and religious freedom, under the government of the superb peacemaking Burgomasters, Gerb. Pancras, Jac. de Graef, Sib. Valckenier, Pet. Schaep, the sons and blood relations of the burgomasters, by laying the first stone, founded this town hall.' [18]

As mentioned earlier, prominent poets involved in the peace celebrations had dedicated poems to the Treaty of Münster. In the 'bouwzang', or 'construction song' that Vondel consecrated to the 'eerste grontsteenleggers van het stadthuis' (layers of the foundation of the town hall), he wrote: Satisfied, Vondel recorded that a new day had dawned when fortunes are no longer squandered on war and destruction and when building can resume in peace. Memorials in honour of the Peace were not erected exclusively in Amsterdam, but also in The Hague, the residence of the country's stadholder. [19]



II. The Oranjezaal, or Orange Hall

1. Frederik Hendrik as a hero of peace

Frederik Hendrik died in May 1647. Initially, this Stadholder still wanted to conquer Antwerp only changing his mind when peace proved imminent. Along with the influential Amsterdam burgomasters, all credit was given this hero of peace in the tableaux vivants displayed in Dam square in June 1648 (fig. 4) and in the 'Leeuwendalers', a play by Vondel that is also included in the Olyfkrans. In reality, however, the relationship between the Amsterdam city councillors and the Prince must be characterised as uneasy: each of the two parties saw themselves as the driving force behind the treaty with Spain. [20] For Frederik Hendrik this was because the Republic of the Seven United Provinces was based on his military successes - he captured many cities from the Spanish; and for Amsterdam because this most influential city of the Republic had long pleaded for peace in support of trade.

The conflict of interests between the Stadholder and the country's largest city, revolving around whether or not the war should be continued, was nevertheless forgiven and forgotten after Frederik Hendrik's death. In Vondel's 1647 poem entitled 'De getemde Mars. Op hope van den algemenen Vrede' (Mars tamed. The hope for universal peace) the relationship between the Stadholder and Amsterdam in the realisation of the Peace is symbolically indicated. Vondel writes: 'O Amsterdamse oprechte vredevaders. Uw wijsheid holp d' Oranje snoeren vlechten, En banden, daar 't Geweld aan leit getemd (...)' (Oh, righteous peace fathers of Amsterdam. Your wisdom helped braid the Orange ropes and bands, with which Violence is tamed). [21] While credit is thus awarded to Frederik Hendrik, Mars would never have been tamed without the efforts of the Amsterdam councillors.

It is interesting to see that the differing points of view of Amsterdam and the Stadholder's court found expression in a monument dedicated to the peace achieved at Münster. While the city with its new town hall wanted to consolidate its position of considerable power and demonstrate that it had played an important role in concluding the peace treaty, at just about the same time a monument with a comparable message was being conceived in Huis ten Bosch Palace, however with Frederik Hendrik in the leading role, namely the Oranjezaal. It is noteworthy that Jacob van Campen also designed this Hague monument and, thus, virtually simultaneously composed two decorative programmes with the peace achieved at Münster as a main theme. [22]



2. Plans for the Oranjezaal

Huis ten Bosch Palace was designed by Van Campen's pupil Pieter Post in 1645 as a summer residence for the Oranges. Amalia van Solms, Frederik Hendrik's consort, turned the palace's central hall into a mausoleum for the Republic's 'Hero of Peace' following his death in 1647. Her model may have been the interior of the Palais de Luxembourg in Paris that was designed and painted by Rubens between 1621 and 1625. The Dowager Maria de Medici turned this palace into a painted mausoleum for her deceased husband Henri IV. Three of the assistants from Rubens' workshop involved in this commission also later contributed to the Oranjezaal. [23] Together with her husband's secretary Constantijn Huygens, in 1647 the mourning widow, Amalia van Solms, determined the moments from the life of the Prince to be commemorated. Van Campen was subsequently entrusted with finding appropriate compositions and with supervising the progress of the work. [24] Like the pieces of a puzzle, the canvasses and panels from both Northern and Southern Netherlandish workshops together had to form a single concept. [25]

The Oranjezaal of Huis ten Bosch Palace is covered from top to bottom with paintings referring to the birth, life, and death and apotheosis of Prince Frederik Hendrik. A number of the paintings make it clear that recognition of the Republic and the Treaty of 1648 would never have taken place without the Prince's military conquests. The provisional conditions of the treaty agreed upon as early as December 1646 left little doubt that peace was imminent. Hence, the theme of peace could be incorporated in the programme of the Oranjezaal designed in 1647. In addition to the main work in the hall, The Triumph of Frederik Hendrik by Jacob Jordaens, [26] the northern wall where Frederik Hendrik is honoured as stadholder is important in the context of the Treaty of Münster. The northern wall is significant in another respect as well, for it contains a reference affording us insight into Van Campen's ideas for his second major commission in these years, the Amsterdam town hall.



3. The northern wall

The Oranjezaal is accessed via the northern wall, which is dedicated to peace (fig. 5). [27] The paintings on the door make it clear that one is entering a temple of peace. The design by Van Campen executed by Christiaen van Couwenbergh in 1651 shows Minerva and Hercules exerting themselves to open the door of the temple for a personification of Peace. On her head, the nude woman wears burgherscrown with oak leaves. In her right hand she holds an olive wreath, symbol of peace, and in her left a second symbol of peace, a palm branch. The golden radiance in the background probably alludes to the 'aetas aurea', or Golden Age that dawns as the door to peace is opened. [28] The illusionistic character of the painted trompe l'oeil of a door on the actual entrance to the hall sets the tone for the allegorical perspective in which the paintings in the northern wall of the hall should be interpreted.

In the lower zone with paintings are four triumphal processions in honour of the hero of peace at the left and right of the door. At the far left can be seen a cortege of people painted by Pieter Soutman in 1648. In the second scene at the left of the entrance animals, fruit, weapons and decorative vases are being offered to Jupiter, the chief Roman god. The painting bears the signature 'P. d. Grebber 1650'. The less realistic looking pendant on the other side of the door is by Theodoor van Thulden (1651). This former pupil of Rubens also painted a triumphal procession in honour of Frederik Hendrik. At the far right below a vault can be seen a joyous cortege painted by Van Campen himself. Constantijn Huygens referred to this painting in his list of themes to be illustrated as 'Oost en Westindische Ambassades met presenten' (Ambassadors of the East and West Indies with gifts). [29]

The three paintings above the entrance underline the merits of the statesman. In the middle is Frederik Hendrik as a general on horseback by Theodoor van Thulden (1651). In the two lists with subjects for the Oranjezaal preserved in the Koninklijk Huisarchief in The Hague, this painting is described as: 'Daer Sijn Hoogheijt ontfangt de Reegering van de Vereenighde provintie' (His Highness receiving the Government of the United Provinces) and 'Boven de deur. Versaemen vant franse en staten leger en Sijn Hoogheijt erkent als generalissimo' (Above the door. The joining together of the French and State Army and His Highness acknowledged as general). [30] To the left above the coats-of-arms of the Seven United Provinces are putti holding up a so-called hat of liberty, a frequently recurring symbol. A sheaf of arrows and seven lions again suggests the Provinces. The Dutch Maid, representative of the Provinces, present s the staff of command to the Prince. [31] In contrast to this peaceful transaction, to the right of the horseman can be seen how the illustrated unity of the Provinces was won. A banner displays the initials of Frederik Hendrik, and a second one the letters SPQB which, following Roman republican model stand for 'Senatus Popolusque Batavus', or the Senate and Batavian People. In the seventeenth century an individual, retroactive heroic past was constructed around the Batavian times in which the Seven Provinces were united in their struggle against the Romans. [32] To the left of this painting we see Frederik Hendrik ruling over the oceans. A note by Van Campen to Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert, the painter of this work, illustrates Van Campen's working method and also explains what is depicted in the painting: 'Sir Willeboors. Sea victory. His highness armed and standing on the chariot of Neptune, who hands him the reins. The horses with mussels and oysters and other marine life hanging in their manes. In the sky is Fortuna holding the shipscrown above his head. The figures are 6 feet large. The work is 10 feet 2 inches high, 6 feet 6 feet wide. Stands 16 feet high from the ground. All in Rhineland measurements.' [33]

To the right of centre is a painting by Gonzales Coques after a design by Abraham van Diepenbeeck. Of this painting too we have a note with instructions. The scene presents Pallas Athena in order to emphasise the Prince's wisdom and strategic judgement. [34] Standing near Pallas Athena is the Dutch Maid clad in white, this time holding a spear and a hat of liberty. She presents the 'survivance' to the young Willem II. This painting emphasises Orange succession to the stadholdership.

For the decorative programme of the Oranjezaal, Van Campen extensively consulted Cesare Ripa's Iconologia, a famous reference work on the history and the visual metaphors of the classics. This book was first published in Rome in 1593 and subsequently reprinted many times. It was translated into Dutch in 1644, and enjoyed great popularity among 'Reedenaers, Poëten, Schilders, Beeldhouwers, Teyckenaers en alle andere Konstbeminders en liefhebbers der Geleertheyt en eerlycke Wetenschappen' (Orators, poets, painters, sculptors, draughtsmen and all other art lovers and lovers of knowledge and honest scholarship). [35]



4. The Temple of Peace

The message of the paintings discussed above is clear: Frederik Hendrik's personal merits laid the foundations for peace in the Republic. That this peace was considered as a divine or celestial one can be seen in the painting that spans all of these scenes. According to Van Campen's earlier mentioned list, this painting illustrates how: 'Doort bestier van Sijn Hoogt. (...) const, wetenschap en welvaert uijt den hemel' (Through His Highness's governance ... art, science and prosperity [come] from the heavens). In 'den hemel', the heavens, we see the Temple of Solomon, which he built as a house for God on earth in gratitude for the peace He granted him. In this temple, Solomon, the prince of peace, assembled the arts and sciences that blossom in peacetime. [36]

Mercury, the god of trade, is shown in the centre of the painted vault with Abundantia or Prosperity before him, a woman with a cornucopia or horn of plenty filled with the products of agriculture that are destroyed in wartime. [37] The depiction of Mercury in this painting is analogous to Ripa's description. [38] In his right hand he holds the caduceus symbolising the end of all strife. At the far left two putti fly in the clouds with a capital of the highest architectural order, the Corinthian. [39] The art of painting is represented by a nude woman with flowers in her hair and in her left hand a palette and brush. She gestures symbolically with her right hand to the art of sculpture, personified by a woman with a statue of Hercules that was famous at the time (now in the collection of the Vatican Museum). Together, they represent the arts that flourish under Mercury in times of peace and prosperity. Of the arts, architecture is the most important as can be deduced from the inclusion of the Corinthian capital, the tower carried by two women, and the building on a cloud in the background. [40] The round tower displays striking similarities with the tower of the town hall of Amsterdam, as we know it from the prints after Van Campen's drawings that were published in 1650 (fig. 6). Particularly noteworthy are the never executed statues of the eight points on the compass, as are the identical pilaster and arched mouldings. Also comparable are the festoons under the edge of the roof. Perhaps Van Campen used one of his sketches of the town hall dome for the painted tower in the Oranjezaal. This impression is further reinforced by a classicistic building on a cloud in the background that closely resembles the Amsterdam town hall. Only the dome, here with overhanging buttresses, is different. [41]

As mentioned, the building high in the clouds in the painting represents the Temple of Solomon, a reflection of God's creation on earth. We know that Van Campen was highly interested in this mythical temple and together with Constantijn Huygens studied a book on its reconstruction by the Spanish Jesuit Villalpando. [42] Villalpando was convinced that the temple had been built in accordance with the rules of classical architecture, which he knew from Vitruvius' treatise De Architecturae Libri Decem, from the first century AD. He considered this architectural order as being the most perfect, because the beauty of the mathematical and geometrical proportions of classic temples had to be related to the divine measurements used by the Creator in fashioning heaven and earth. Hence, it would be ideal for Van Campen to build the town hall following these same divine rules, so that just like the Temple of Solomon it would represent God on earth and serve as a seat of 'Good' authority and thereby function as the very centre of a peace-loving, harmonious community. [43] To achieve this, naturally the rules had to be known, and at the time this was considered the highest form of science. The scholars' point of departure was the human body, in imitation of Vitruvius' architectural theory: '... nothing has been created by God with greater symmetry than Man, having created him in his image, which is a veritable proportion, a veritable harmony, a true order, a true power, and the most veritable and most perfect measurements and proportions or symmetry of all things.' [44]

In other words, the northern wall of the Oranjezaal contains clear references to ideas that must have influenced Van Campen while he was designing not only the Oranjezaal itself, but also the Amsterdam town hall.



III The Amsterdam Town Hall as a Monument to the Peace

According to J. Dankerts, publisher of Van Campen's designs for the town hall in print, the town hall was: 'Met een woordt, ghelijk de tempels ten dienst en eere Godts ghebouwt worden (...)' (In a word, like the temples that are built in the service and honour of God ...). [45] Reverend Melsior Johannes also spoke of the Temple of Solomon at the inauguration of the building on 29 July 1655. [46]

Central in the interior of the town hall is the mirror of God's creation, with all of the stars and planets, the signs of the zodiac, the four continents and oceans, the four elements, the seasons, and day and night. [47] The plan of the building on both sides of the east-west axis is identical and thus symmetrical. In his ode to the building of 1655, Vondel wrote: 'It has its torso, its arms, feet, head, and shoulders, each very orderly ... it has its intestines, each limb, each internal part its duty, use, and positions). [48] This makes it clear that in emulation of Vitruvius, Ripa and Villalpando human measurements and proportions served as the point of departure for the design of the town hall.

More than in just an abstract sense, peace can also literally be found on and in the building. A statue of Peace by Artus Quellinus of 1650 has dominated the front facade of the town hall for 350 years now (fig. 7). Naturally it refers to the year of foundation, but it is also serves as a reference to the divine building, the Temple of Peace. The statue is one of the six bronze figures erected on the tympanums in a fashion comparable to Roman and later Renaissance conventions. Peace is flanked by statues representing the four cardinal - or principal - virtues, Prudentia and Justitia on the front of the building and Temperantia and Vigilanza on the back. [49] Peace bears two symbols of peace in her hands, the olive branch and the caduceus, both of which recur frequently in the sculpture in the interior. The prosperity Amsterdam enjoyed as a result of the peace treaty is found at the feet of the statue in the form of a cornucopia, like the one mentioned earlier in the vault of the Oranjezaal.

Above the tympanum on the back of the building is Atlas, bearer of the vault of heaven with all of the stars, constellations and planets (fig. 8). This is a reflection of the universe found in the interior of the building; [50] together with the statue of Peace on the front, he alludes to universal peace. The sculpture in the tympanum under Peace and Atlas elaborate on this theme. Along with the four virtues, universal peace was one of the conditions for prosperity.

Seated under Peace in the middle of the 20-metre-long tympanum is the Maid of Amsterdam. She wears a crown and holds a staff of peace. Two lions lie at her feet. At the left is the sea god Neptune with his trident. Tritons on seahorses blow on shells. Nereids render homage to the Maid with olive wreathes (figs. 9 and 10). The relief refers to the oceans which venerate the Maid of Amsterdam: the city's wealth increased through its maritime trade. Another Maid of Amsterdam is found under Atlas, on the back side of the building, being honoured by the four continents, Europe, Asia, Africa and America. Together with the four oceans they represent the entire ordered world of which Amsterdam imagined itself the centre after the treaty was concluded.



IV. 'EEN HEILIG VUUR, BEWIEROOKT DOOR DE VREê!' (A Holy Fire, redolent with Peace)

When considering the town hall of Amsterdam and the Oranjezaal of Huis ten Bosch Palace in the light of the peace achieved at Münster, it is striking how peace is primarily illustrated as the bearer of prosperity; the horn of plenty is a recurring motif. In addition it can also be associated with the biblical temple of peace, the Temple of Solomon. Together with the many poems in which the Peace and the town hall are associated, this underlines that in those days the Republic, but above all the citizens of Amsterdam were full of 'een heilig vuur, bewierookt door de vreê!' (a holy fire, redolent with peace'):




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FOOTNOTES

1. Olyfkrans 1649.

2.'(...) een vermaerde Stadt niet langer een Richt-huys van hout, maer een Capitolium van Marmer verdiende (...)': Hollantze Mercurius, 1652, no. 72.

3. Schraa 1954; Haan 1977.

4. 'In Romen weirt de Burgermeesterlijke regeringe de beste geacht (...) want de Koninklijke en Oppervorstelijke machten verdrukten te veel de welvaert der Burgerlijken Staten. (...) de Burgermeesteren, Schepenen, en anderder Raden bestaen uyt de beste, rijkste, aansienlijkste en treffelijxste van, 't volk, en deze gaet verre te boven de Opper-vorstelijke macht, als zijnde de heylsaamste en nutste bestieringe voort welvaren van een Stadt en Landt.': Fokkens 1662, pp. 343-344.

5. '(...) alzoo het stadthuijs vrij wat bouwvalligh is tot veele plaetsen, zulx datter t'eenen of t'anderen tyde eenigh ongeluck uyt gevreest worden te zullen ontstaan, off men oock zoude konnen goedt vinden, inplaets van 't selve een nieuw te doen maecken (...)': Gemeentearchief Amsterdam, Resolutiën der Vroedschap, 28 January 1639, fol. 229.

6. See, for example, the poems 'Princelied' (1625), 'Vredewensch aen Constantyn Huigens' (1632) and 'Stedekroon van Frederick Henrick' (1633) by Vondel. Smits Veldt 1977/78.

7. Gemeentearchief Amsterdam, Resolutiën der Vroedschap, 20 November-3 December 1645: '(...) alzoo men vermerckt dat verscheijden persoonen zich moeijen met modellen te maeken van een nieuw te maeken stadthuys (...)' (... as it is noted that various individuals are engaged in making models for a newly to be built town hall ...).

8. Gemeentearchief Amsterdam, Rapiamus 1647, fol. 164 (5 April 1647). One of the extraordinary expenses reads as follows: 'Aan Anthonie Post voor sijn broeder P. Post betaelt (...) over het teyckenen van de modellen van een nieuw te maeken stads-raedhuys alhier' (Paid to Anthonie Post for his brother P. Post ... regarding the drawing of models of a newly to be built town hall here).

9. See Ottenheym 1989.

10. Hollantze Mercurius 1652 (note 2).

11. 'ende verstaen dat men daerop met allen spoet in 't werck zal treen ende 't selve, zoo zeer doenlyck is, avanceren.': Gemeentearchief Amsterdam, Resolutiën der Vroedschap, 18 July 1648, fol. 198.

12. 'indien men een werck van zoo veel costen zyn volkomen beslagh, standt ende aensien wilde geven, ende om de markt te meerder te vergrooten, behoort te worden verandert ende de grondt liever in de breedte aen den Dam, als in de lengte daer van aff behoort te worden geextendeert (...).': Resolutiën 1648, ibid.

13. This resolution had already been taken seven months earlier and was formally ratified on this day. Kroon 1867, p. 27, note 1.

14. '(...) Hier stondt het nieuw Stadthuis, getekent van te voren, / Zoo geestig, dat het zou het kunstigst oog bekoren. / Het dunk van Kampen nu niet langer vreemt te zijn, / Al zag hy dikwils om, en zag geen menschen schijn. / Wanneer hy, met hier op zijn zinnen scherp te scherpe, / Was bezig om de schets van 't groot gevaart' ontwerpe, / (...) hier mengtmen kunst in een.': Anslo, 'Het Gekroonde Amsterdam', in: Olyfkrans 1649.

15. A drawing displays adaptations of the design made in 1653 when, because of the expensive First Anglo-Dutch War, it was decided that the town hall should not be higher than the second storey (Gemeentearchief Amsterdam, Resolutiën der Vroedschap, 27 June 1653, fol. 68). This decision was later abandoned (ibid., 10 February 1655, fol. 231).

16. The architect was almost always assisted by the draughtsmen, who further worked out his sketches and ideas. The prints of the town hall of 1650 were engraved by the city architect Stalpaert. The series can be found among other places in the Koninklijk Huisarchief in The Hague.

17. Vennekool 1661, p. 3.

18. For the Latin text, see the stone in the Vierschaar.

19. 'De Pais ontsluit haer schatkist niet / Op datze' onnozelen verkorte / En groeje in 's nagebuurs verdriet: / Zy weet ze nutter te besteden / Dan om den stroopenden soldaet / Te mesten, en geweer te smeden / Tot tijtverdrijf van blinden Haet, / Die hof en huizen leit in kolen; / Zij sticht doorluchte kapitolen.': Vondel, 'Bouwzang', in: Olyfkrans 1649.

20. Vondel's dedication to the 'Leeuwendalers. Lantspel' also avoids all controversy: 'Wy mosten dan mede op het spoor van Virgilius (...) den Hoogen mogenden Heeren Staten, d'assche van den Nassauschen Vredehelt, uit Keizerlijcken stamme, Willem, zijnen eenigen zone, Prince van Oranje, en onze Burgemeesteren, die getrouwe Vredevaderen, dit Lantspel toespelen (...)' (We must therefore, in part following Virgil's example...perform this national play for the mighty and esteemed gentlemen of the states, the ashes of the Nassau hero of peace, from imperial lineage, Willem, his only son, Prince of Orange, and our burgomasters, those faithful fathers of peace.' In: Olyfkrans 1649, p. 71.

21. Vondel's 'Getemde Mars' is also included in: Olyfkrans 1649.

22. A third ensemble designed by Van Campen was in the gallery of Buren Castle, which was demolished in the nineteenth century. In this gallery which dates from 1645, homage to Frederik Hendrik took centre stage. The theme of this series of paintings was, like that in the Oranjezaal, the conquest of the Spanish and the liberty this victory would engender. Terwen/Ottenheym 1993, pp. 43-45. Along with a painting by Jacob Backer with a personification of Liberty (Jagdschloss Grunewald, Berlin), only the painting The Siege of Schenkenschans by Gerrit Van Santen (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) has been preserved. The canal house of the Amsterdam Trip family built between 1660 and 1662 is an example of a private residence with a decorative ensemble referring to the Peace (by Nicolaas de Heldt Stockade). See: Fokkens 1662, pp. 1-16.

23. See Buvelot 1995, p. 141.

24. Jorissen 1873, p. 135; Post 1655. That Van Campen himself also made two paintings for the hall is known from a letter by Huygens to Amalia van Solms, in which is also stated that Van Campen conceived the entire room. See: Scheltema 1947, II, p. 243.

25. Swillens 1961, pp. 90-92.

26. In this Triumph of Frederik Hendrik is painted a banderole with the following text: 'Ultimus ante omnes de parta pace triumphus.' Freely translated, this means 'The most important of all successes is the triumph of acquired peace.'

27. For Van Campen's working method and the genesis of the programme, please see Peter-Raupp 1980 and Brenninkmeyer-de Rooij 1982, p. 72-73.

28. Also in the paintings of the western wall, Frederik Hendrik is honoured as the bearer of a Golden Age. See Brenninkmeyer-de Rooij 1980; Brenninkmeyer-de Rooij 1982, pp. 151-154.

29. The undated lists by Van Campen and Huygens with subjects for the Oranjezaal are in the Koninklijk Huisarchief in The Hague.

30. See note 29. In 1635 it was agreed with the French that neither country would independently close a peace treaty with Spain.

31. In the patriotic iconography of the Eighty Years War, this Maid occupies, whether or not outfitted with a spear and liberty hat, an important place. Like the Dutch lion, sheaf of arrows, the enclosed garden, the cow and the liberty hat, she is a symbol of national unity.

32. This ancient struggle was known from the writings of Tacitus (55 AD-118 AD), namely the Historiae and Germaniae, whose republican convictions appealed greatly to the imagination. These texts were known in the seventeenth century by among others, Bockenbergius (1639). In 1659, a series of paintings were commissioned for the Amsterdam town hall depicting the historical battle between the Batavians and the Romans, with allusions to the struggle of the Dutch Republic with Spain. For a discussion of this project, see: Goossens 1996, pp. 61-63.

33. 'Signor Willeboors. Seevittorie. Sijn hoogheijt gewapent staende op den waegen van Neptuijn, die hem de teugels in de hant geeft. De paerden met mossselen en oesters en ander seegewas in de maene hangende. In de loght de fortijn die hem de scheepscroon boven't hoofd houdt. De beelden groot 6 voet. Reghte dagh. Het stuc hooch 10 voet 2 duijm, breet 6 voet 6 duijm. Staet uijt de vloer 16 voet hoogh. Alle Rijnlantse maet.': Slothouwer 1945, p. 318; Peter-Raupp 1980, p. 81.

34. Peter-Raupp 1980, p. 84. Compare Ripa 1644, pp. 269-270. See also Goossens 1994. For an extensive investigation of this theme, see Pfeiff 1990.

35. This text is from the frontispiece of the translation by D.P. Pers of Ripa's Iconologia, 1644.

36. The Statenbijbel, 1618, Ezech. Spreuken 24, Vermaningen 3-4.

37. Cicero, a popular author in the seventeenth century, wrote: 'Uit alle dingen, daermen wat uyt onversoeckt isser niet soeter, niet vruchtbaerder, dat een vrij man beter past, als de ackerbou' (Of all things from which one seeks to gain, there is nothing sweeter, or more productive, that suits a free man than agriculture) (Ripa 1644, p. 258). For a combination of the Caduceus and Cornucopia see also 'Felicitas Publica' or 'Algemeene Gelucksaligheyt', in Ripa 1644, p. 151.

38. Ripa 1644, p. 271.

39. As Koen Ottenheym demonstrated, Van Campen employed the five architectural orders according to the architectural treatise by V. Scamozzi, L'idea dell'architettura universale of 1615. See Ottenheym 1995, pp. 155-201.

40. Van Campen and his fellow students deemed architecture the most important of all the arts: '(...) dat de Architecture boven drijft, en geeft aen veele ander konsten een regel en maete, om datse haer meesterstuck, door de Simmetrie moeten oefnen: en met de aengenaeme proportie van de konst, soo vermaektse en voldoetse de oogen van de verstandige Mannen' (...Architecture is elevated and imparts upon many other arts rule and measure, because it must practice its art through symmetry: and with the harmonious proportion of the art, she entertains and pleases the eyes of intelligent men) (Ripa 1644, p. 463). This concept corresponds with what we see in the vault of the Oranjezaal, where architecture eclipses painting and sculpture. The statue of Hercules refers to sculpture as well as the human body.

41. This dome may be an earlier design by Van Campen. Van Campen also used overhanging buttresses in his designs for the churches at Renswoude, Hoge Zwaluwe and Haarlem, which are based on a study of the Temple of Solomon. See: Ottenheym 1995, pp. 180-187.

42. Villalpando believed that he had reconstructed the Temple of Jerusalem on the basis of indications in the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel and an architectural treatise by Vitruvius. In this, he was the first theoretician to couple classic architecture with the Christian body of ideas. Villalpando 1596-1604. See Goossens, 1995 and Goossens 1996, pp. 15-19. Following Villalpando's study of 1604, classic (pagan) building forms and - principles could be considered as proto-Christian and applied without impunity within the strict Calvinistic Dutch society. This was grist for the mill of the classicist Van Campen, who incorporated both classic and Christian symbols in his designs and namely in the decoration of the town hall of Amsterdam. The cosmic order underlying Villalpando's temple model is also largely applied in the town hall.

43. The church, too, drew parallels between the Bible and the present. At the time, the Republic was compared with the Old-Testament Israel, namely by reformed clergymen. Amsterdam was equated to Jerusalem, the city of God, and the new town hall was its Temple of Solomon.

44. '(...) datter van God niets met meerder Simmetrie, onder alle geschapene dingen, gemaeckt is, als de Mensche, hebbende hem geschapen nae zijn beeld en gelijcknisse, diewelcke is, een waerachtige proportie, een waerachtige Harmonie, een waere ordre, een waere Kracht, en de waerachtighste en volmaeckste meetinge en gelijckmatigheyt of Simmetrie van alle dingen.': Ripa 1644, p. 463.

45. Vennekool 1661, p. 2.

46. Bontemantel 1643-72, II, p. 59.

47. For an explanation of the microcosm expressed in the building, see: Goossens 1996, pp. 27-61.

48. 'Het heeft zijn middenlijf, zijne armen, voeten, hooft, En schouders, elck om 't netst. het heeft zyn ingewanden, Elck lidt, elck ingewant zijn ampt, gebruick, en standen.': Vondel 1655.

49. Among the cardinal virtues was Fortitudo, which was replaced with Vigilanzia after Van Campen had withdrawn from the project.

50. For an extensive study of the reflection of divine creation in the building, please see Goossens 1996.

51. "Een ieder maakt zich door zijne kunst vermaard.
De Bouw-en Beeldhouwkunst aan haar Penseel gepaard,
Die schijnen onderling van liefde nu te blaken.
Men kan 'n staat, 'n rijk door kunst onsterflijk maken,
Wanneer men door zijn kunst zo tot de sterren gaat!
Wat wonderwerk schijnt daar ten hemel op te rijzen,
Dat zich vertoont gelijk een koninklijk paleis?
De zonne zelf en kan in al zijn ommereis
De weergâ met haar glans op aarde niet bestralen!
Dat is het Raadhuis van de wijdberoemde Raad (...)
Wiens lof gestadig nu de aardkloot ommegaat.
Geen wonder zal de prijs van zulk een praalstuk halen:
Haar marmeren wand en wijkt geen koninklijke zalen,
Nu zij de wereld toont een pronkstuk van haar tijd,
Dat wordt op 't sierelijkst met staatsie ingewijd,
Niet door 't beraden van een oorlogskans te wagen
Noch met triomfen van bebloede nederlagen,
Maar door een heilig vuur, bewierookt door de vreê!" Asselijn 1660, pp. 17-33.


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