1.
South Holland
–
South Holland is a province in the midwestern Netherlands. It has a population of just over 3.6 million, situated on the North Sea in the west of the Netherlands, South Holland covers an area of 3,403 km2, of which 585 km2 is water. It borders North Holland to the north, Utrecht and Gelderland to the east, the provincial capital is The Hague, while its largest city is Rotterdam. Archaeological discoveries in Hardinxveld-Giessendam indicate that the area of South Holland has been inhabited since at least ca.7,500 years before present, agriculture and permanent settlements probably originated around 2,000 years later, based on excavations near Vlaardingen. In the classical antiquity, South Holland was part of the Roman Province of Germania Inferior, the Romans built fortresses along the border, such as Praetorium Agrippinae near modern-day Valkenburg, Matilo near modern-day Leiden, and Albaniana near modern-day Alphen aan den Rijn. A city was founded near modern-day Voorburg, Forum Hadriani and it was built according to the grid plan, and facilitated a square, a court, a bathhouse and several temples. After the departure of the Romans, the area belonged to the Frisian Kingdom, in 690, the Anglo-Saxon monk Willibrord arrived near Katwijk and was granted permission to spread Roman Catholicism by the Frankish king Pepin II. He accordingly founded a church in Oegstgeest, after which the area was gradually Christianised. The area was appointed to East Francia in the Treaty of Verdun in 843, after which the king granted lands to Gerolf and this was the birth of the County of Holland. Gerolf was later succeeded by Dirk I, who continued to rule Holland under the Frankish king, in 1248, count William II ordered the construction of the Ridderzaal, which was later finished by his son and successor Floris V. The first city in South Holland to receive city rights was Dordrecht, the city retained a dominant position in the area until it was struck by a series of floods in the late 14th century. The same century saw a series of civil wars, the Hook and Cod wars. Both his daughter Jaqueline and his brother John, the supported by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy. The conflict ended in 1490, with John victorious, overall, the area of South Holland remained largely agrarian throughout the late Middle Ages. This changed around 1500, when Holland became Europes most urbanised area, during the Eighty Years War, the area of South Holland was the scene of the Capture of Brielle, the Siege of Leiden and the assassination of William the Silent. The United Netherlands declared their independence in 1581, and Holland quickly emerged as the dominant province, with important trading cities such as Leiden, Delft, Gouda. In 1575, the Netherlands first university was founded in Leiden by William the Silent, the Hague, which had originated around the castle of the counts of Holland, became its new political centre. Both the States of Holland and the States General seated in the Binnenhof, the Dutch Golden Age blossomed in the 17th century
South Holland
–
The liberation of
Leiden in 1574
South Holland
South Holland
–
The
Binnenhof by the
Hofvijver, 1625
South Holland
–
The centre of
Rotterdam in ruins after the
Rotterdam Blitz in 1940
2.
Netherlands
–
The Netherlands is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
Netherlands
–
The Netherlands in 5500 BC
Netherlands
–
Flag
Netherlands
–
The Netherlands in 500 BC
Netherlands
–
An oak figurine found in
Willemstad, North Brabant (4500 BC).
3.
Het Plein
–
Het Plein is a town square in the old city centre of The Hague in the Netherlands. It is located adjacent to the Binnenhof, the place of the States General of the Netherlands. The Mauritshuis art museum is located on Plein 29, Het Plein was originally a garden, forming a part of the Binnenhof castle, residence of the Counts of Holland. It was used to grow vegetables for the court, the garden was surrounded by a ring of canals and intersected by ditches. As a town square, Het Plein was constructed in 1632 and was inspired by the Place des Vosges in Paris, a statue of William the Silent, made by Dutch sculptor Lodewyk Royer, was installed in the centre of the square in 1848. Media related to Plein at Wikimedia Commons Official website
Het Plein
–
Het Plein in The Hague's city centre, with the statue of William the Silent in the middle.
4.
The Hague
–
The Hague is a city on the western coast of the Netherlands, and the capital city of the province of South Holland. With a population of 520,704 inhabitants and more than one million including the suburbs, it is the third-largest city of the Netherlands. The Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 12th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands, which constitutionally is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands plans to live at Huis ten Bosch and works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Hague is also home to the world headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell and numerous other major Dutch companies. The Hague originated around 1230, when Count Floris IV of Holland purchased land alongside a pond, in 1248, his son and successor William II, King of the Romans, decided to extend the residence to a palace, which would later be called the Binnenhof. He died in 1256 before this palace was completed but parts of it were finished by his son Floris V, of which the Ridderzaal and it is still used for political events, such as the annual speech from the throne by the Dutch monarch. From the 13th century onwards, the counts of Holland used The Hague as their administrative centre, the village that originated around the Binnenhof was first mentioned as Haga in a charter dating from 1242. In the 15th century, the smarter des Graven hage came into use, literally The Counts Wood, with connotations like The Counts Hedge, s-Gravenhage was officially used for the city from the 17th century onwards. Today, this name is used in some official documents like birth. The city itself uses Den Haag in all its communication and their seat was located in The Hague. At the beginning of the Eighty Years War, the absence of city walls proved disastrous, in 1575, the States of Holland even considered demolishing the city but this proposal was abandoned, after mediation by William of Orange. From 1588, The Hague also became the seat of the government of the Dutch Republic, in order for the administration to maintain control over city matters, The Hague never received official city status, although it did have many of the privileges normally granted only to cities. In modern administrative law, city rights have no place anymore, only in 1806, when the Kingdom of Holland was a puppet state of the First French Empire, was the settlement granted city rights by Louis Bonaparte. After the Napoleonic Wars, modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands were combined in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands to form a buffer against France, as a compromise, Brussels and Amsterdam alternated as capital every two years, with the government remaining in The Hague. After the separation of Belgium in 1830, Amsterdam remained the capital of the Netherlands, when the government started to play a more prominent role in Dutch society after 1850, The Hague quickly expanded. The growing city annexed the rural municipality of Loosduinen partly in 1903, the city sustained heavy damage during World War II
The Hague
The Hague
The Hague
The Hague
5.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
6.
Art museum
–
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art. Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection, the term is used for both public galleries, which are non-profit or publicly owned museums that display selected collections of art. On the other hand, private galleries refers to the commercial enterprises for the sale of art, however, both types of gallery may host traveling exhibits or temporary exhibitions including art borrowed from elsewhere. In broad terms, in North American usage, the word gallery alone often implies a private gallery, the term contemporary art gallery refers usually to a privately owned for-profit commercial gallery. These galleries are found clustered together in large urban centers. Smaller cities are home to at least one gallery, but they may also be found in towns or villages. Contemporary art galleries are open to the general public without charge, however. They usually profit by taking a portion of art sales, from 25% to 50% is typical, there are also many non-profit or collective galleries. Some galleries in cities like Tokyo charge the artists a flat rate per day, curators often create group shows that say something about a certain theme, trend in art, or group of associated artists. Galleries sometimes choose to represent artists exclusively, giving them the opportunity to show regularly, a gallerys definition can also include the artist cooperative or artist-run space, which often operates as a space with a more democratic mission and selection process. A vanity gallery is an art gallery that charges fees from artists in order to show their work, the shows are not legitimately curated and will frequently or usually include as many artists as possible. Most art professionals are able to identify them on an artists resume, University art museums and galleries constitute collections of art that are developed, owned, and maintained by all kinds of schools, community colleges, colleges, and universities. This phenomenon exists in both the West and East, making it a global practice, although largely overlooked, there are over 700 university art museums in America alone. This number, in comparison to other kinds of art museums, throughout history, large and expensive works of art have generally been commissioned by religious institutions and monarchs and been displayed in temples, churches, and palaces. Although these collections of art were private, they were made available for viewing for a portion of the public. In classical times, religious institutions began to function as a form of art gallery. Wealthy Roman collectors of engraved gems and other precious objects often donated their collections to temples and it is unclear how easy it was in practice for the public to view these items. At the Palace of Versailles, entrance was restricted to wearing the proper apparel – the appropriate accessories could be hired from shops outside
Art museum
–
The Louvre in
Paris,
France, is one of the world's largest museums and
the most visited art museum in the world.
Art museum
–
The Gallery of
Cornelis van der Geest,
Willem van Haecht, 1628. A private picture gallery as an early precursor of the modern museum.
Art museum
–
University of Tartu Art Museum is the oldest museum in
Estonia.
Art museum
–
The art collection at the
Palace of Versailles in
France was periodically open for 'respectable' public viewing.
7.
Dutch Golden Age painting
–
The new Dutch Republic was the most prosperous nation in Europe, and led European trade, science, and art. Most work, including that for which the period is best known, a distinctive feature of the period is the proliferation of distinct genres of paintings, with the majority of artists producing the bulk of their work within one of these. The full development of specialization is seen from the late 1620s. A distinctive feature of the period, compared to earlier European painting, was the amount of religious painting. Dutch Calvinism forbade religious painting in churches, and though biblical subjects were acceptable in private homes, the development of many of these types of painting was decisively influenced by 17th-century Dutch artists. The widely held theory of the hierarchy of genres in painting, whereby some types were regarded as more prestigious than others, however this was the hardest to sell, as even Rembrandt found. Many were forced to produce portraits or genre scenes, which much more easily. In descending order of status the categories in the hierarchy were, history painting, including allegories, most paintings were relatively small – the only common type of really large paintings were group portraits. Painting directly onto walls hardly existed, when a wall-space in a public building needed decorating fitted framed canvas was normally used, painted delftware tiles were very cheap and common, if rarely of really high quality, but silver, especially in the auricular style, led Europe. With this exception, the best artistic efforts were concentrated on painting and printmaking, the volume of production meant that prices were fairly low, except for the best known artists, as in most subsequent periods there was a steep price gradient for more fashionable artists. In particular the French invasion of 1672, brought a depression to the art market. The distribution of pictures was very wide, yea many tymes, blacksmithes, cobblers etts. will have some picture or other by their Forge, such is the generall Notion, enclination and delight that these Countrie Native have to Painting reported an English traveller in 1640. There were for virtually the first time many professional art dealers, several significant artists, like Vermeer and his father, Jan van Goyen. Rembrandts dealer Hendrick van Uylenburgh and his son Gerrit were among the most important, typically workshops were smaller than in Flanders or Italy, with only one or two apprentices at a time, the number often being restricted by guild regulations. In many cases involved the artists extricating themselves from medieval groupings where they shared a guild with several other trades. Several new guilds were established in the period, Amsterdam in 1579, Haarlem in 1590, the Leiden authorities distrusted guilds and did not allow one until 1648. The Hague, with the court, was an early example, there were many dynasties of artists, and many married the daughters of their masters or other artists. Many artists came from families, who paid fees for their apprenticeships
Dutch Golden Age painting
–
Johannes Vermeer,
The Milkmaid (1658–1660)
Dutch Golden Age painting
–
"The
Meagre Company ", an Amsterdam
militia group portrait or schutterstuk by
Frans Hals and
Pieter Codde (1633-37)
Dutch Golden Age painting
–
Frans Hals '
tronie, with the later title
Gypsy Girl. 1628–30. Oil on wood, 58 cm × 52 cm (23 in × 20 in). The tronie includes elements of portraiture, genre painting, and sometimes history painting.
Dutch Golden Age painting
–
Paulus Potter,
The Bull (1647); 3.4 metres wide. An unusually monumental animal painting that challenges the
hierarchy of genres.
8.
Johannes Vermeer
–
Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. Vermeer was a successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime. He evidently was not wealthy, leaving his wife and children in debt at his death, Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, and frequently used very expensive pigments. He is particularly renowned for his treatment and use of light in his work. Vermeer painted mostly domestic interior scenes and he was recognized during his lifetime in Delft and The Hague, but his modest celebrity gave way to obscurity after his death. He was barely mentioned in Arnold Houbrakens major source book on 17th-century Dutch painting, since that time, Vermeers reputation has grown, and he is now acknowledged as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Relatively little was known about Vermeers life until recently and he seems to have been devoted exclusively to his art, living out his life in the city of Delft. Until the 19th century, the sources of information were some registers, a few official documents. John Michael Montias added details on the family from the city archives of Delft in his Artists and Artisans in Delft, Johannes Vermeer was baptized in the Reformed Church on 31 October 1632. His father Reijnier Janszoon was a worker of silk or caffa. As an apprentice in Amsterdam, Reijnier lived on fashionable Sint Antoniesbreestraat, in 1615, he married Digna Baltus. The couple moved to Delft and had a daughter named Geertruy who was baptized in 1620, in 1625, Reijnier was involved in a fight with a soldier named Willem van Bylandt who died from his wounds five months later. Around this time, Reijnier began dealing in paintings, in 1631, he leased an inn, which he called The Flying Fox. In 1635, he lived on Voldersgracht 25 or 26, in 1641, he bought a larger inn on the market square, named after the Flemish town Mechelen. The acquisition of the inn constituted a financial burden. When Vermeers father died in October 1652, Vermeer took over the operation of the art business. In April 1653, Johannes Reijniersz Vermeer married a Catholic girl, the blessing took place in the quiet nearby village of Schipluiden. Vermeers new mother-in-law Maria Thins was significantly wealthier than he, according to art historian Walter Liedtke, Vermeers conversion seems to have been made with conviction
Johannes Vermeer
–
Detail of the painting
The Procuress (c. 1656), considered to be a
self portrait by Vermeer.
Johannes Vermeer
–
Delft in 1652, by cartographer
Willem Blaeu
Johannes Vermeer
–
A row of houses on the
market in
Delft, with the inn Mechelen, but made circa 1730 by Leonard Schenk after a drawing by
Abraham Rademaker
Johannes Vermeer
–
The Jesuit Church on the Oude Langendijk in Delft, 1700–1725, brush in gray ink, 13.2 × 20.2 cm, Delft, Archief Delft
9.
Rembrandt van Rijn
–
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was a Dutch draughtsman, painter, and printmaker. A prolific and versatile master across three media, he is considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art. Having achieved youthful success as a painter, Rembrandts later years were marked by personal tragedy. Yet his etchings and paintings were popular throughout his lifetime, his reputation as an artist remained high, Rembrandts portraits of his contemporaries, self-portraits and illustrations of scenes from the Bible are regarded as his greatest creative triumphs. His self-portraits form a unique and intimate biography, in which the artist surveyed himself without vanity and his reputation as the greatest etcher in the history of the medium was established in his lifetime, and never questioned since. Few of his paintings left the Dutch Republic whilst he lived, but his prints were circulated throughout Europe, because of his empathy for the human condition, he has been called one of the great prophets of civilization. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born on 15 July 1606 in Leiden, in the Dutch Republic and he was the ninth child born to Harmen Gerritszoon van Rijn and Neeltgen Willemsdochter van Zuijtbrouck. His family was quite well-to-do, his father was a miller, religion is a central theme in Rembrandts paintings and the religiously fraught period in which he lived makes his faith a matter of interest. His mother was Roman Catholic, and his father belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church, unlike many of his contemporaries who traveled to Italy as part of their artistic training, Rembrandt never left the Dutch Republic during his lifetime. He opened a studio in Leiden in 1624 or 1625, which he shared with friend, in 1627, Rembrandt began to accept students, among them Gerrit Dou in 1628. In 1629, Rembrandt was discovered by the statesman Constantijn Huygens, as a result of this connection, Prince Frederik Hendrik continued to purchase paintings from Rembrandt until 1646. He initially stayed with an art dealer, Hendrick van Uylenburgh, Saskia came from a good family, her father had been a lawyer and the burgemeester of Leeuwarden. When Saskia, as the youngest daughter, became an orphan, Rembrandt and Saskia were married in the local church of St. Annaparochie without the presence of Rembrandts relatives. In the same year, Rembrandt became a burgess of Amsterdam and he also acquired a number of students, among them Ferdinand Bol and Govert Flinck. In 1635 Rembrandt and Saskia moved into their own house, renting in fashionable Nieuwe Doelenstraat, in 1639 they moved to a prominent newly built house in the upscale Breestraat, today known as Jodenbreestraat in what was becoming the Jewish quarter, then a young upcoming neighborhood. The mortgage to finance the 13,000 guilder purchase would be a cause for later financial difficulties. Rembrandt should easily have been able to pay the house off with his income, but it appears his spending always kept pace with his income. It was there that Rembrandt frequently sought his Jewish neighbors to model for his Old Testament scenes, in 1640, they had a second daughter, also named Cornelia, who died after living barely over a month
Rembrandt van Rijn
–
Self-Portrait with Beret and Turned-Up Collar (1659),
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Rembrandt van Rijn
–
The Prodigal Son in the Tavern, a self-portrait with Saskia, c. 1635
Rembrandt van Rijn
–
Portrait of
Saskia van Uylenburgh, ca. 1635
Rembrandt van Rijn
–
Rembrandt Memorial Marker Westerkerk Amsterdam
10.
Jan Steen
–
Jan Havickszoon Steen was a Dutch genre painter of the 17th century. His works are known for their insight, sense of humour. Steen was born in Leiden, where his well-to-do, Catholic family were brewers who ran the tavern The Red Halbert for two generations and he was the eldest of eight or more children. Like his even more famous contemporary Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen attended the Latin school and he received his painterly education from Nicolaes Knupfer, a German painter of historical and figurative scenes in Utrecht. Influences of Knupfer can be found in Steens use of composition, other sources of inspiration were Adriaen van Ostade and Isaac van Ostade, painters of rural scenes, who lived in Haarlem. Whether Steen actually studied with Ostade is not known, in 1648 Jan Steen and Gabriël Metsu founded the painters Guild of Saint Luke at Leiden. Soon after he became an assistant to the landscape painter Jan van Goyen. On Oct 3,1649 he married van Goyens daughter Margriet, Steen worked with his father-in-law until 1654, when he moved to Delft, where he ran the brewery De Slang for three years without much success. After the explosion in Delft in 1654 the art market was depressed and it does not seem to be clear if this painting should be called a portrait or a genre work. Steen lived in Warmond, just north of Leiden, from 1656 till 1660 and in Haarlem from 1660 till 1670 and in both periods he was especially productive. In 1670, after the death of his wife in 1669 and his father in 1670, Steen moved back to Leiden, when the art market collapsed in 1672, called the Year of Disaster, Steen opened a tavern. In April 1673 he married Maria van Egmont, who gave him another child, in 1674 he became president of the Saint Lucas Guild. Frans van Mieris became one of his drinking companions and he died in Leiden in 1679 and was interred in a family grave in the Pieterskerk. Daily life was Jan Steens main pictorial theme, subtle hints in his paintings seem to suggest that Steen meant to warn the viewer rather than invite him to copy this behaviour. Many of Steens paintings bear references to old Dutch proverbs or literature and he often used members of his family as models, and painted quite a few self-portraits in which he showed no tendency of vanity. Steen did not shy from other themes, he painted historical, mythological and religious scenes, portraits, still lifes and his portraits of children are famous. He is also known for his mastery of light and attention to detail, most notably in Persian rugs. Steen was prolific, producing about 800 paintings, of which roughly 350 survive and his work was valued much by contemporaries and as a result he was reasonably well paid for his work
Jan Steen
–
Self portrait of Jan Steen (1670)
Jan Steen
–
Jan Steen Peasants before an Inn
Jan Steen
–
Woman at her Toilet
Jan Steen
–
The Bowling Game, c. 1655
11.
Paulus Potter
–
Paulus Potter was a Dutch painter who specialized in animals within landscapes, usually with a low vantage point. Before Potter died of tuberculosis at the age of 28 he succeeded in producing about 100 paintings, Paulus Potter was born in Enkhuizen. He was baptized on 20 November 1625, in 1628 his family moved to Leiden, and in 1631 to Amsterdam, where young Paulus studied painting with his father, Pieter Symonsz Potter. After his mother died, his father started an affair with the wife of Pieter Codde, for some time his father was a manufacturer of gilded leather hangings outside the city walls. Potter became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in Delft, Potter married in the Hague and his father-in-law, who was the leading building contractor in the Hague, introduced him to the Dutch elite. Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, a member of the family and an art-lover, bought a painting with a pissing cow. By May 1652, after a case about delivering a new painting, Potter was invited by Nicolaes Tulp, who was impressed by his civilized behavior and politeness. Potter painted his son Dirck Tulp, but only changed the face on a work he was not able to sell. Paulus painted a self-portrait which was at Hackwood Park, Hampshire until 1998 and it is now at Elibank House, Buckinghamshire. His most famous painting not to be confused with his work The Bull is The Young Bull, though this painting was criticized, it was greatly admired during the 19th century as an early example of Romanticism. The Young Bull features as the canvas being studied in Mark Tanseys 1981 monochromatic oil on canvas The Innocent Eye Test
Paulus Potter
–
Portrait of Paulus Potter (1654) by
Bartholomeus van der Helst
Paulus Potter
–
The painting
The Young Bull (1647) is in the collection of the
Mauritshuis
Paulus Potter
–
Figures with Horses by a Stable (1647)
Paulus Potter
–
Punishment of a Hunter (c. 1647)
12.
Frans Hals
–
Frans Hals the Elder was a Dutch Golden Age portrait painter who lived and worked in Haarlem. He is notable for his loose painterly brushwork, and he helped introduce this style of painting into Dutch art. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group portraiture, Hals was born in 1582 or 1583 in Antwerp as the son of cloth merchant Franchois Fransz Hals van Mechelen and his second wife Adriaentje van Geertenryck. Like many, Hals parents fled during the Fall of Antwerp from the Spanish Netherlands to Haarlem, Hals studied under Flemish émigré Karel van Mander, whose Mannerist influence, however, is barely noticeable in Hals work. In 1610, Hals became a member of the Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke and he worked on their large art collection that Karel van Mander had described in his Schilderboeck published in Haarlem in 1604. The most notable of these were the works of Geertgen tot Sint Jans, Jan van Scorel, however, the entire collection of paintings was not formally possessed by the city council until 1625, after the city fathers had decided which paintings were suitable for the city hall. The remaining art that was considered too Roman Catholic was sold to Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen and it was in this cultural context that Hals began his career in portraiture, since the market had disappeared for religious themes. The earliest known example of Hals art is the portrait of Jacobus Zaffius and his breakthrough came with the life-sized group portrait The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company in 1616. His most noted portrait today is the one of René Descartes which he made in 1649, Frans Hals married his first wife Anneke Harmensdochter around 1610. Frans was of Catholic birth, however, so their marriage was recorded in the city hall, unfortunately, the exact date is unknown because the older marriage records of the Haarlem city hall before 1688 have not been preserved. Bavochurch where both are buried, though Frans took over 40 years to join his first wife there, Anneke died in 1615, shortly after the birth of their third child and, of the three, Harmen survived infancy and one had died before Hals second marriage. As biographer Seymour Slive has pointed out, older stories of Frans Hals abusing his first wife were confused with another Haarlem resident of the same name. Indeed, at the time of charges, the artist had no wife to mistreat. After his first wife died, Hals took on the daughter of a fishmonger to look after his children and, in 1617. They married in Spaarndam, a village outside the banns of Haarlem. Frans Hals was a father, and they went on to have eight children. Contemporaries such as Rembrandt moved their households according to the caprices of their patrons, for this reason, we can be sure that all sitters were either from Haarlem or were visiting Haarlem when they had their portraits made. Hals work was in throughout his life, but he lived so long that he eventually went out of style as a painter
Frans Hals
–
Copy of a self-portrait by Frans Hals.
Frans Hals
–
Statue of Frans Hals in Florapark, Haarlem
Frans Hals
–
Frans Hals, later finished by
Pieter Codde.
De Magere Compagnie. 1637. Oil on canvas, 209 x 429 cm,
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
Frans Hals
–
Portrait of
Jacob Pietersz Olycan (1596-1638), 1625, Mauritshuis.
13.
Jacob van Ruisdael
–
Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, prolific and versatile, Ruisdael depicted a wide variety of landscape subjects. From 1646 he painted Dutch countryside scenes of remarkable quality for a young man, after a trip to Germany in 1650, his landscapes took on a more heroic character. In his late work, conducted when he lived and worked in Amsterdam, he added city panoramas, in these, the sky often took up two-thirds of the canvas. In total he produced more than 150 Scandinavian views featuring waterfalls, Ruisdaels only registered pupil was Meindert Hobbema, one of several artists who painted figures in his landscapes. Hobbemas work has at times confused with Ruisdaels. Ruisdaels work was in demand in the Dutch Republic during his lifetime, Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael was born in Haarlem in 1628 or 1629 into a family of painters, all landscapists. The number of painters in the family, and the spellings of the Ruisdael name, have hampered attempts to document his life. The name Ruisdael is connected to a castle, now lost, the village was the home of Jacobs grandfather, the furniture maker Jacob de Goyer. When De Goyer moved away to Naarden, three of his sons changed their name to Ruysdael or Ruisdael, probably to indicate their origin, two of De Goyers sons became painters, Jacobs father Isaack van Ruisdael and his well-known uncle Salomon van Ruysdael. Jacob himself always spelled his name with an i, while his cousin, Salomons son Jacob Salomonszoon van Ruysdael, also a landscape artist, spelled his name with a y. It is not known whether Ruisdaels mother was Isaack van Ruisdaels first wife, whose name is unknown, or his second wife, Isaack and Maycken married on 12 November 1628. It is often assumed Ruisdael studied with his father and uncle and he appears to have been strongly influenced by other contemporary local Haarlem landscapists, most notably Cornelis Vroom and Allaert van Everdingen. The earliest date that appears on Ruisdaels paintings and etchings is 1646, two years after this date he was admitted to membership of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. By this time landscape paintings were as popular as history paintings in Dutch households, though at the time of Ruisdaels birth and this growth in popularity of landscapes continued throughout Ruisdaels career. Around 1657, Ruisdael moved to Amsterdam, by then a city which was likely to have offered a bigger market for his work. His fellow Haarlem painter Allaert van Everdingen had already moved to Amsterdam, on June 17,1657 he was baptized in Ankeveen, near Naarden. Ruisdael lived and worked in Amsterdam for the rest of his life, in 1668, his name appears as a witness to the marriage of Meindert Hobbema, his only registered pupil, a painter whose works have been confused with Ruisdaels own
Jacob van Ruisdael
–
Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede (c. 1670)
Jacob van Ruisdael
–
A View of Egmond aan Zee (c. 1650) by Jacob van Ruisdael
Jacob van Ruisdael
–
A View of Egmond aan Zee (1640) by
Salomon van Ruysdael
Jacob van Ruisdael
–
A View of Burg Bentheim (1651) by Jacob van Ruisdael
14.
Hans Holbein the Younger
–
Hans Holbein the Younger was a German and Swiss artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century and he also produced religious art, satire and Reformation propaganda, and made a significant contribution to the history of book design. He is called the Younger to distinguish him from his father, Hans Holbein the Elder, Born in Augsburg, Holbein worked mainly in Basel as a young artist. At first he painted murals and religious works and designed for stained glass windows and he also painted the occasional portrait, making his international mark with portraits of the humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam. When the Reformation reached Basel, Holbein worked for reformist clients while continuing to serve traditional religious patrons and his Late Gothic style was enriched by artistic trends in Italy, France and the Netherlands, as well as by Renaissance humanism. The result was a combined aesthetic uniquely his own, Holbein travelled to England in 1526 in search of work, with a recommendation from Erasmus. He was welcomed into the humanist circle of Thomas More, where he built a high reputation. After returning to Basel for four years, he resumed his career in England in 1532 and this time he worked under the patronage of Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell. By 1535, he was Kings Painter to King Henry VIII, in this role, he produced not only portraits and festive decorations but designs for jewellery, plate and other precious objects. His portraits of the family and nobles are a record of the court in the years when Henry was asserting his supremacy over the English church. Holbeins art was prized from early in his career, the French poet and reformer Nicholas Bourbon dubbed him the Apelles of our time, a typical contemporary accolade. Holbein has also described as a great one-off of art history. After his death, some of his work was lost, but much was collected, recent exhibitions have also highlighted his versatility. He turned his fluid line to designs ranging from jewellery to monumental frescoes. Holbeins art has sometimes been called realist, since he drew and his portraits were renowned in their time for their likeness, and it is through Holbeins eyes that many famous figures of his day, such as Erasmus and More, are now seen. Holbein was never content, however, with outward appearance and he embedded layers of symbolism, allusion, and paradox in his art, to the lasting fascination of scholars. In the view of art historian Ellis Waterhouse, his portraiture remains unsurpassed for sureness and economy of statement, penetration into character, Holbein was born in the free imperial city of Augsburg during the winter of 1497–98. He was a son of the painter and draughtsman Hans Holbein the Elder, whose trade he and his brother, Ambrosius
Hans Holbein the Younger
–
Hans Holbein the Younger
Hans Holbein the Younger
–
Hans (right) and
Ambrosius Holbein, by
Hans Holbein the Elder, 1511.
Silverpoint on white-coated paper,
Berlin State Museums
Hans Holbein the Younger
–
Portrait of
Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1523. Oil and
tempera on wood,
National Gallery, London, on loan from
Longford Castle
Hans Holbein the Younger
–
Portrait of Sir Thomas More, 1527. Oil and tempera on oak,
Frick Collection, New York City
15.
John Maurice of Nassau
–
John Maurice of Nassau, called the Brazilian, was count and prince of Nassau-Siegen, and Grand Master of the Order of Saint John. His father was John VII of Nassau, his grandfather John VI of Nassau, John Maurice joined the Dutch army in 1621, at a very early age. He distinguished himself in the campaigns of his cousin, the stadtholder Frederick Henry and he was involved in 1629 in the capture of Den Bosch. In 1636, he conquered a fortress at Schenkenschans and he was appointed as the governor of the Dutch possessions in Brazil in 1636 by the Dutch West India Company on recommendation of Frederick Henry. He landed at Recife, the port of Pernambuco and the stronghold of the Dutch. By a series of expeditions, he gradually extended the Dutch possessions from Sergipe on the south to São Luís de Maranhão in the north. By his statesmanlike policy he brought the colony into a most flourishing condition and his leadership in Brazil inspired two Latin epics from 1647, Caspar Barlaeus Rerum per octennium in Brasilia et alibi nuper gestarum sub praefectura and Franciscus Plantes Mauritias. The painters Albert Eckhout, Frans Post, and Abraham Willaerts served as members of John Maurices entourage, in 1643 in Johan Maurits equipped the expedition of Hendrik Brouwer that attempted to establish an outpost in southern Chile. He also established representative councils in the colony for local government and he was shortly afterwards appointed by Frederick Henry to the command of the cavalry in the Dutch army, and he took part in the campaigns of 1645 and 1646. When the war was ended by the Peace of Münster in January 1648, he accepted from the elector of Brandenburg the post of governor of Cleves, Mark and Ravensberg, and later also of Minden. His success in the Rhineland was as great as it had been in Brazil, at the end of 1652, John Maurice was appointed head of the Order of Saint John and made a prince of the Empire. In 1664 he came back to Holland, when war broke out with an England supported by the bishop of Münster. In 1675 his health compelled him to give up military service, and he spent his last years in his beloved Cleves. The residence he built in The Hague is now called the Mauritshuis and it is now a major museum of old Dutch paintings. Brazilian author Paulo Setúbal wrote a novel about John Maurice. The Dutch in Brazil Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
John Maurice of Nassau
–
Engraving of John Maurice
John Maurice of Nassau
–
John Maurice of Nassau
John Maurice of Nassau
–
Brazilian depiction of arms of Johan Maurits
John Maurice of Nassau
16.
Top 100 Dutch heritage sites
–
The Top 100 Dutch heritage sites is a list of rijksmonuments in the Netherlands, established in 1990 by the Department for Conservation. The Top 100 was a selection of historical monuments that were authorized to display the symbol of the Hague Convention of 1954, the list should not be confused with the UNESCO World Heritage list. The buildings on the list could expect extra security in the context of the policy, the Top 100 list is no longer official, as the extra cultural protection policy is no longer applied. The following Top 100 also includes a list of the most important stained glass, church bells and organs
Top 100 Dutch heritage sites
–
Sint-Bavokerk
Top 100 Dutch heritage sites
–
Emblem of the
International Committee of the Blue Shield that uses the protection logo of the Hague Convention of 1954
Top 100 Dutch heritage sites
–
Castle Amerongen
Top 100 Dutch heritage sites
–
American Hotel
17.
John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen
–
John Maurice of Nassau, called the Brazilian, was count and prince of Nassau-Siegen, and Grand Master of the Order of Saint John. His father was John VII of Nassau, his grandfather John VI of Nassau, John Maurice joined the Dutch army in 1621, at a very early age. He distinguished himself in the campaigns of his cousin, the stadtholder Frederick Henry and he was involved in 1629 in the capture of Den Bosch. In 1636, he conquered a fortress at Schenkenschans and he was appointed as the governor of the Dutch possessions in Brazil in 1636 by the Dutch West India Company on recommendation of Frederick Henry. He landed at Recife, the port of Pernambuco and the stronghold of the Dutch. By a series of expeditions, he gradually extended the Dutch possessions from Sergipe on the south to São Luís de Maranhão in the north. By his statesmanlike policy he brought the colony into a most flourishing condition and his leadership in Brazil inspired two Latin epics from 1647, Caspar Barlaeus Rerum per octennium in Brasilia et alibi nuper gestarum sub praefectura and Franciscus Plantes Mauritias. The painters Albert Eckhout, Frans Post, and Abraham Willaerts served as members of John Maurices entourage, in 1643 in Johan Maurits equipped the expedition of Hendrik Brouwer that attempted to establish an outpost in southern Chile. He also established representative councils in the colony for local government and he was shortly afterwards appointed by Frederick Henry to the command of the cavalry in the Dutch army, and he took part in the campaigns of 1645 and 1646. When the war was ended by the Peace of Münster in January 1648, he accepted from the elector of Brandenburg the post of governor of Cleves, Mark and Ravensberg, and later also of Minden. His success in the Rhineland was as great as it had been in Brazil, at the end of 1652, John Maurice was appointed head of the Order of Saint John and made a prince of the Empire. In 1664 he came back to Holland, when war broke out with an England supported by the bishop of Münster. In 1675 his health compelled him to give up military service, and he spent his last years in his beloved Cleves. The residence he built in The Hague is now called the Mauritshuis and it is now a major museum of old Dutch paintings. Brazilian author Paulo Setúbal wrote a novel about John Maurice. The Dutch in Brazil Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen
–
Engraving of John Maurice
John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen
–
John Maurice of Nassau
John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen
–
Brazilian depiction of arms of Johan Maurits
John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen
18.
Stadtholder
–
In the Low Countries, stadtholder, literally steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. For the last half century of its existence, it became a hereditary role. His son, Prince William V, was the last stadtholder of the republic, whose own son, King William I, became the first king of the Netherlands. The Dutch Monarchy is thus descended from the first stadtholder of the young Republic, William of Orange, the title stadtholder is roughly comparable to Englands historic title Lord Lieutenant. Its component parts literally translate as place holder, or as a cognate, stead holder. Note, however, that is not the word for the rank of lieutenant. Stadtholders in the Middle Ages were appointed by feudal lords to represent them in their absence, if a lord had several dominions, some of these could be ruled by a permanent stadtholder, to whom was delegated the full authority of the lord. A stadtholder was thus more powerful than a governor, who had limited authority. The local rulers of the independent provinces of the Low Countries made extensive use of stadtholders, in the 15th century the Dukes of Burgundy acquired most of the Low Countries, and these Burgundian Netherlands mostly each had their own stadtholder. Only the Prince-Bishopric of Liège and two smaller territories remained outside his domains, stadtholders continued to be appointed to represent Charles and King Philip II, his son and successor in Spain and the Low Countries. Due to the centralist and absolutist policies of Philip, the power of the stadtholders strongly diminished. The stadtholder no longer represented the lord but became the highest executive official, although each province could assign its own stadtholder, most stadtholders held appointments from several provinces at the same time. As these councils themselves appointed most members of the states, the stadtholder could very indirectly influence the general policy, in the army, he could appoint officers by himself, in the navy only affirm appointments of the five admiralty councils. Legal powers of the stadtholder were thus limited, and by law he was a mere official. His real powers, however, were greater, especially given the martial law atmosphere of the permanent Eighty Years War. Maurice of Orange after 1618 ruled as a dictator. The leader of the Dutch Revolt was William the Silent, he had been appointed stadtholder in 1572 by the first province to rebel and his personal influence and reputation was subsequently associated with the office and transferred to members of his house. Maurice in 1618 and William III of Orange from 1672 replaced entire city councils with their partisans to increase their power, by intimidation, the stadtholders tried to extend their right of affirmation
Stadtholder
–
William I of Orange was a stadtholder during the
Dutch Revolt against the
Spanish Empire.
19.
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
–
Frederick Henry, or Frederik Hendrik in Dutch, was the sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel from 1625 to 1647. His strategy was the neutralization of the threat of inundation of the area around s-Hertogenbosch. Frederick Henry was born on 29 January 1584 in Delft, Holland and he was the youngest child of William the Silent and Louise de Coligny. His father William was stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht and his mother Louise was daughter of the Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny, and was the fourth wife of his father. He was thus the brother of his predecessor Maurice of Orange. Frederick Henry was born six months before his fathers assassination on 10 July 1584, the boy was trained to arms by his elder brother Maurice, one of the finest generals of his age. After Maurice threatened to legimitize his illegitimate children if he did not marry and his illegitimate son by Margaretha Catharina Bruyns, Frederick Nassau de Zuylenstein was born in 1624 before his marriage. This son later became the governor of the young William III of England for seven years, Frederick Henry proved himself almost as good a general as his brother, and a far more capable statesman and politician. For twenty-two years he remained at the head of government in the United Provinces, the Period of Frederick Henry, as it is usually styled by Dutch writers, is generally accounted the golden age of the republic. It was marked by military and naval triumphs, by worldwide maritime and commercial expansion. Frederick Henry built the country houses Huis Honselaarsdijk, Huis ter Nieuwburg, and for his wife Huis ten Bosch, Huis Honselaarsdijk and Huis ter Nieuwburg are now demolished. Frederick Henry died on 14 March 1647 in The Hague, Holland and he left his wife Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, his son William II, Prince of Orange, four of his daughters, and his illegitimate son Frederick Nassau de Zuylestein. On Frederick Henrys death, he was buried with great pomp beside his father and brother at Delft, Frederick Henry left an account of his campaigns in his Mémoires de Frédéric Henri. His widow commissioned a mausoleum in the Oranjezaal, a panoramic painted ballroom with scenes from his life. Frederick Henry and his wife Amalia of Solms-Braunfels had nine children, the Dutch Republic, Its Rise, Greatness, and Fall 1477-1806 excerpt and text search pp 506–45 Frederik Hendrik. Een biografisch drieluik, a biography by J. J
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
–
Portrait by
Anthony van Dyck
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
–
The funeral procession of Frederik Hendrik, etching with colour, h 225mm × w 565mm.
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
–
Prince Frederick Henry and his wife
Amalia of Solms-Braunfels and his three youngest daughters, portrayed by
Gerard van Honthorst.
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
–
Engraving of Frederick Henry as shown in engraving below.
20.
Binnenhof
–
The Binnenhof is a complex of buildings in the city centre of The Hague, next to the Hofvijver lake. It houses the place of both houses of the States General of the Netherlands, as well as the Ministry of General Affairs. Built primarily in the 13th century, the Gothic castle originally functioned as residence of the counts of Holland and it is counted among the Top 100 Dutch heritage sites. The Binnenhof is the oldest House of Parliament in the still in use. Little is known about the origin of the Binnenhof, presumably, the grounds next to the Hofvijver lake, and the small homestead on it, were purchased by Count Floris IV of Holland from Meiland van Wassenaar in November 1229. Between 1230 and 1234 he had the homestead expanded to a small keep, after Floris son and successor William II was crowned King of the Romans in 1248, this construction continued. Between 1248 and 1280, William had the Ridderzaal built, to its left and right, walls were built, which divided the area in front of the building from that behind it. At the end of the wall on the left, near the Hofvijver, the chapel was built. William died in battle in 1256, before the construction of the Ridderzaal had finished, the Binnenhof was the residence of the counts of Holland for a short period. After the house of Holland died out in 1299, the county fell in the hands of the counts of Hainaut, the counts of Hainaut barely resided in the Binnenhof in the early 14th century. Duke Albert I of Bavaria and his successor William II lived in the Binnenhof virtually permanently, under their reign, the castle saw a sizeable expansion, and gradually became enclosed by buildings. When Holland had become part of the Burgundian Empire in 1432, part of the complex was later made into the residence of the stadtholder of Holland, who governed the county in absence of its ruler. After Philip II was deposed as Count of Holland and the Dutch Republic was proclaimed in 1581, in 1584, stadtholder Maurice moved into the stadtholders quarter, and in the same year, the Ridderzaal became the meeting place of the newly formed States General of the Dutch Republic. Between 1806 and 1810, under French rule, the centre of the Netherlands was moved to Amsterdam. When the Netherlands gained independence from France, however, the government moved back to the Binnenhof, the local residents, however, cared more for the historic value of the building, and successfully protested against demolition. Originally built as a ballroom, the Gothic Ridderzaal today forms the centre of the Binnenhof, every third Tuesday of September, on Prinsjesdag, this is where the King holds his annual Speech from the Throne. Other buildings shape a rectangle around the Ridderzaal, creating a courtyard in front of the building. A gilt Neo-Gothic fountain adorns the courtyard and a statue of King William II, one of few Dutch equestrian statues, guards its gate, the Stadtholders Gate, today, the lower house meets in a chamber in the large modern eastern part of the complex
Binnenhof
–
The Hague's Binnenhof with the Hofvijver
Binnenhof
–
The Binnenhof and Hofvijver on a map of The Hague from around 1600
Binnenhof
–
A meeting of the States General of the Dutch Republic in the Ridderzaal in 1651
Binnenhof
–
The
Ridderzaal in 1900
21.
Hofvijver
–
The Hofvijver is a pond in the centre of The Hague. It is adjoined in the east by the Korte Vijverberg, in the south by the Binnenhof, in the middle there is a small island with plants and trees which has no name, it is usually referred to as the island in the Vijverberg. The term pond is actually a misnomer, as the Hofvijver has its origin in a natural dunelake fed by the Haagse Beek, the Haagse Beek still feeds the Hofvijver and so the pond is directly connected to the dunes in Kijkduin. In this dunelake there was an island on which William II built his palace in 1248, other sources say he built his palace alongside the pond and created a moat around it. The city of The Hague celebrated its 700 years of existence in 1948, Count Albert decided on the rectangular shape in the 14th century. In the 17th century the Hofvijver got quays and in the 19th century it was elongated, up to around 1800 the Binnenhof was still encircled by a moat and was only accessible by bridges. The island in the Vijverberg we know nowadays was only created around 300 years ago, how or why it was created is unknown. In the centre of the stands an flagpole and the island itself counts a number of trees. It is not open to the public, alongside the island there is a fountain in the water. During demonstrations the island has been occupied a couple of times, nowadays the Hofvijver is adjoined in the west by the Buitenhof, but until the 19th century that side was adjoined by houses. The pond is encircled by fairly high quays, but is shallow on some points. In 2004 an underwater gate was built to make sure nobody could swim to the prime ministers office without being detected. His office, the Torentje, adjoins the Hofvijver as it is located on the Binnenhof, on the bank across from the Binnenhof there is a statue of Jantje pointing to the Binnenhof. Jantje probably refers to John I, Count of Holland who died at the age of 15 years, located next to the Vijverberg are several museums, like the Mauritshuis, the Gevangenpoort, the Hague Historical Museum and the Gallery Prince William V. Leo van Heijningen, Duizend jaren Hofvijver, de Hofvijvergeest spreekt, Hapax Media related to Hofvijver at Wikimedia Commons
Hofvijver
–
View from the Hague historical museum on the Korte Vijverberg
Hofvijver
–
View of the
Binnenhof across the hofvijver from the Lange Vijverberg in 1900
Hofvijver
–
Similar view from the Korte Vijverberg by night
22.
Dutch Republic
–
It preceded the Batavian Republic, the Kingdom of Holland, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and ultimately the modern Kingdom of the Netherlands. Alternative names include the United Provinces, Seven Provinces, Federated Dutch Provinces, most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg. In 1549 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain. This was the start of the Eighty Years War, in 1579 a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Spanish army. This was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II. In 1582 the United Provinces invited Francis, Duke of Anjou to lead them, but after an attempt to take Antwerp in 1583. After the assassination of William of Orange, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined the offer of sovereignty, however, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England, and sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general. This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy, the Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by the Spanish Empire until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the Anglo-French war, the territory was divided into groups, the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American and the Orangists. The Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of revolutions in 1783–1787. During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities, initially on the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787. After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland, the Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names United Provinces of the Netherlands, on 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands. Between 1815 and 1890 the King of the Netherlands was also in a union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became known as the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world, the free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries. The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands, the worlds first stock exchange, that of the Dutch East-India Company, went public in six different cities. Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a city so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles
Dutch Republic
–
Dutch East-India trading ship 1600
Dutch Republic
–
Flag
Dutch Republic
–
Onrust Island near
Batavia, 1699
Dutch Republic
–
Courtyard of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, 1653
23.
Dutch Brazil
–
Dutch Brazil, also known as New Holland, was the northern portion of the Portuguese colony of Brazil, ruled by the Dutch during the Dutch colonization of the Americas between 1630 and 1654. The main cities of the Nieuw Nederland were the capital Mauritsstad, Frederikstadt, Nieuw Amsterdam, Saint Louis, São Cristóvão, Fortaleza, Sirinhaém, from 1630 onward, the Dutch Republic conquered almost half of Brazils area at the time, with their capital in Recife. The Dutch West India Company set up their headquarters in Recife, the governor, Johan Maurits, invited artists and scientists to the colony to help promote Brazil and increase immigration. However, the tide turned against the Dutch when the Portuguese won a significant victory at the Second Battle of Guararapes in 1649, on 26 January 1654, the Dutch surrendered and signed the capitulation, but only as a provisory pact. By May 1654, the Dutch demanded that the Dutch Republic was to be given New Holland back, on 6 August 1661, New Holland was formally ceded to Portugal through the Treaty of The Hague. While of only transitional importance for the Dutch, this period was of importance in the History of Brazil. The Low Countries had long been part of the Spanish Empire, however, in 1568 the Eighty Years War broke out, a consequence of the war was Dutch raiding of Spanish lands, colonies, and ships. In 1594 Phillip II, who was king both of Spain and of Portugal, gave permission for Dutch ships bound for Brazil to sail together once a year in a fleet of twenty ships. As part of the truce, the Dutch also agreed to delay the creation of a West India Company, by the end of the truce, the Dutch had vastly expanded its trade networks, and gained over half of the carrying trade between Brazil and Europe. There were 29 sugar refineries in the Northern Netherlands by 1622, in 1621, the twelve-year peace treaty expired and the Dutch West India Company was immediately created. The Dutch–Portuguese War resumed, and through the new company, the Dutch now started to interfere with the Spanish, the expedition consisted of 26 ships and 3,300 men. They arrived there on May 8,1624, on which Portuguese Governor Diogo Tristão de Mendonça Furtado surrendered to the Dutch. However, by April 30,1625, the Portuguese recaptured the city, with the help of a combined Spanish and Portuguese force, the city was to then play a critical role as a base of the Portuguese struggle against the Dutch for the control of Brazil. In 1628, the seizure of a Spanish silver convoy by Piet Heyn in Matanzas Bay provided the Dutch WIC the funds for another attempt to conquer Brazil at Pernambuco. In the summer of 1629, the Dutch coveted a newfound interest in obtaining the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, the largest and richest sugar-producing area in the world. The Dutch fleet of 65 ships was led by Hendrick Corneliszoon Loncq, the WIC gained control of Olinda by February 16,1630, and Recife and António Vaz by March 3. Matias de Albuquerque, the Portuguese governor, led a strong Portuguese resistance which hindered the Dutch from developing their forts on the lands which they had captured. By 1631, the Dutch left Olinda and tried to control of the Fort of Cabedello on Paraíba, the Rio Grande, Rio Formoso
Dutch Brazil
–
Dutch Brazil 1630-1654
Dutch Brazil
–
Flag
Dutch Brazil
–
Recife or Mauritsstad – Capital of the Nieuw Holland in
Brazil
Dutch Brazil
–
Palácio de Friburgo (1642), residence of John Maurice of Nassau.
24.
Dutch Baroque architecture
–
Like contemporary developments in England, Dutch Palladianism is marked by sobriety and restraint. The architecture of the first republic in Northern Europe was meant to reflect democratic values by quoting extensively from classical antiquity, brought together in a coherent combination, these stylistic developments anticipated Wrens Classicism. The most ambitious constructions of the period included the seats of self-government in Amsterdam and Maastricht, designed by Campen and Post, on the other hand, the residences of the House of Orange are closer to a typical burgher mansion than to a royal palace. Two of these, Huis ten Bosch and Mauritshuis, are symmetrical blocks with large windows, the same austerely geometrical effect is achieved without great cost or pretentious effects at the stadholders summer residence of Het Loo. The Dutch Republic was one of the powers of 17th-century Europe. Dutch architects were employed on important projects in Northern Germany, Scandinavia and Russia, jakob Rosenberg, Seymour Slive, and E. H. ter Kuile, Dutch Art and Architecture,1600 to 1800, 3rd ed
Dutch Baroque architecture
–
Royal Palace (Amsterdam):
Jacob van Campen, 1646.
25.
Jacob van Campen
–
Jacob van Campen, was a Dutch artist and architect of the Golden Age. He was born into a family at Haarlem, and spent his youth in his home town. Being of noble birth and with time on his hands, he took up painting mainly as a pastime, in 1614, he became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke, and studied painting under Frans de Grebber - a number of Van Campens oils survive. About 1616 to 1624 he is thought to have lived in Italy, on his return to the Netherlands, Van Campen turned to architecture, applying ideas borrowed from Andrea Palladio, Vincenzo Scamozzi and classical influences from Vitruvius. Van Campen was friendly with Constantijn Huygens, and together designed a new house for Huygens. Even after Van Campens death, his work greatly influenced Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen, the designer of the Kleefse gardens, the latter to own a book by Van Campen regardless of the expense. The city hall and the city palace of Potsdam owe a debt to ideas by Van Campen, Van Campens first known building was the Coymans house built in 1625 in Amsterdam. About 1645 Van Campen designed the Nieuwe Kerk in Haarlem, a church that influenced Christopher Wren and his best-known work is probably the large Town Hall of Amsterdam, now the Royal Palace in Dam Square. Van Campen worked as an architect, a painter and a designer of decorative schemes and he was assisted in his work by Pieter Post, Daniël Stalpaert, Matthias Withoos, Philips Vingboons, Artus Quellinus, Tielman van Gameren and Rombout Verhulst. During the building of the city hall, Van Campen lived in very expensive lodgings in the nearby Kalverstraat, in 1654 Van Campen left after an argument, probably in connection with the design of the barrel vaults. Stalpaert won, but his completion of the project was reported to be less fine than Van Campens designs, after a long career, Van Campen died in 1657 in his buitenplaats Randenbroek near Amersfoort, which he had inherited from his mother, and was buried there. He had expanded it himself and had it decorated by Caesar van Everdingen, Van Campen never married, but had one son, Alexander Van Campen. Van Campen was selective in what projects he took on and his best known works are, The Royal Palace, Amsterdam, former city hall. In 1647, his name is mentioned for the first time in connection with the design of the new city hall and it was to be a perfect building, perfect in its proportions and in the message it conveyed to the spectator. Its power lies in its strict and perfect proportions and extremely moderate decoration, critics loathed the simple entrance - without stairs - on the ground floor. He is suspected to have had a hand in the alteration of the Rembrandthuis at the Jodenbreestraat in Amsterdam, the Theatre of Van Campen, based on the example of Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, in Amsterdam. The Paleis Noordeinde, a palace in The Hague. As well as houses and palaces, he designed a number of churches, such as those at Renswoude and at Hooge Zwaluwe
Jacob van Campen
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Mauritshuis
Jacob van Campen
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The
Paleis Noordeinde
Jacob van Campen
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The "
Nieuwe Kerk " in
Haarlem
26.
Pieter Post
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Pieter Jansz Post was a Dutch Golden Age architect, painter and printmaker. Post was baptised in Haarlem, the son of a stained-glass painter and he is credited with the creation of the Dutch baroque style of architecture, along with his longtime collaborator Jacob van Campen. Together they designed the Mauritshuis in the Hague, according to Houbraken he was a famous architect who introduced his brother Frans to Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange while he was working on plans for the Mauritshuis. According to the RKD he became a member of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke in 1623 and he was the overseer from 1640 for the new additions to Paleis Noordeinde in The Hague. From 1645 he was the architect for Frederik Hendrik for Huis ten Bosch and he died in The Hague, aged 61. His son Maurits became an architect, and his son Johan Post became a painter and his granddaughter Rachel Ruysch became a famous flower painter
Pieter Post
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Count
William II of Holland Granting Privileges to the Dike Wardens of
Spaarndam in 1255 by
Caesar van Everdingen (figures) and Pieter Post (architectural elements), 1654 (
Gemeenlandshuis van Rijnland,
Leiden)
Pieter Post
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Huis ten Bosch (the Hague), built 1645-1650
Pieter Post
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Mauritshuis (The Hague)
Pieter Post
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De Waag Leiden
27.
Cupola
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In architecture, a cupola /ˈkjuːpələ/ is a small, most often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to light and air. The word derives, via Italian, from the lower Latin cupula small cup indicating a vault resembling an upside down cup. The cupola is a development during the Renaissance of the oculus, an ancient device found in Roman architecture, the chhatri, seen in Indian architecture, fits the definition of a cupola when it is used atop a larger structure. Cupolas often appear as small buildings in their own right and they often serve as a belfry, belvedere, or roof lantern above a main roof. In other cases they may crown a spire, tower, or turret, barns often have cupolas for ventilation. The square, dome-like segment of a North American railroad train caboose that contains the second-level or angel seats is called a cupola. Some armored fighting vehicles have cupolas, called commanders cupola, which is a dome or cylinder with armored glass to provide 360-degree vision around the vehicle
Cupola
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Cupolas on the towers of
Montefiascone Cathedral, Italy.
Cupola
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Interior of cupola ceiling in the old
Synagogue of
Győr,
Hungary.
Cupola
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Ribbed cupola crowns the minaret of the
Mosque of Uqba, in Kairouan,
Tunisia.
Cupola
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Inside of Armenian Orthodox church cupola in
Lviv,
Ukraine.
28.
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
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The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag is an art museum in The Hague in the Netherlands. The museum, built 1931–1935, was designed by the Dutch architect H. P and it is renowned for its large Mondrian collection, the largest in the world. His last work, Victory Boogie-Woogie, is on display here, GEM and Fotomuseum Den Haag are part of the Gemeentemuseum, though not housed in the same building and with a separate entrance fee. The museums collection of art includes works by international artists. The museum has a collection of 19th and 20th century prints, posters and drawings and it comprises works by Dutch artists such as Co Westerik and Jan Toorop, as well as works by Rodolphe Bresdin, Ingres, Paul Klee, Toulouse-Lautrec, Odilon Redon and others. A selection is on view in the print room, for reasons of conservation items are only shown at temporary exhibitions. The music collection includes a collection of musical instruments and a music library
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
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Museum building designed by
H.P. Berlage
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
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Location in
South Holland in the
Netherlands
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
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Pablo Picasso, 1910, Woman with Mustard Pot (La Femme au pot de moutarde), oil on canvas, 73 x 60 cm. Exhibited at the
Armory Show, New York, Chicago, Boston 1913
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
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Jürgen Partenheimer, Weltachse V, installation Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, 1999
29.
Girl With the Pearl Earring
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Girl with a Pearl Earring is an oil painting by 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. It is a tronie of a girl with a headscarf and a pearl earring, the painting has been in the collection of the Mauritshuis in The Hague since 1902. The painting is a tronie, the Dutch 17th-century description of a head that was not meant to be a portrait and it depicts a European girl wearing an exotic dress, an oriental turban, and an improbably large pearl earring. The work is oil on canvas and is 44.5 cm high and 39 cm wide and it is signed IVMeer but not dated. It is estimated to have been painted around 1665, after the most recent restoration of the painting in 1994, the subtle color scheme and the intimacy of the girls gaze toward the viewer have been greatly enhanced. During the restoration, it was discovered that the dark background and this effect was produced by applying a thin transparent layer of paint, called a glaze, over the present-day black background. However, the two organic pigments of the glaze, indigo and weld, have faded. At the time, it was in poor condition, des Tombe had no heirs and donated this and other paintings to the Mauritshuis in 1902. Later in 2014 it was exhibited in Bologna, Italy, in June 2014, it returned to the Mauritshuis museum which stated that the painting will not leave the museum in the future. The painting was investigated by the scientists of the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage and FOM Institute for Atomic, the ground is dense and yellowish in color and is composed of chalk, lead white, ocher and very little black. The dark background of the painting contains bone black, weld, chalk, small amounts of red ochre, the face and draperies were painted mainly using ochres, natural ultramarine, bone black, charcoal black and lead white. Tracy Chevalier wrote a novel, also entitled Girl with a Pearl Earring, fictionalizing the circumstances of the paintings creation. In the novel, Johannes Vermeer becomes close with a servant named Griet. The novel inspired a 2003 film and 2008 play of the same name, the 2003 film stars Scarlett Johansson as Griet, the girl with the pearl earring. Johansson was nominated for awards including a Golden Globe Award. The painting also appears in the 2007 film St Trinians, when a group of unruly schoolgirls steal it to raise funds to save their school. English street artist Banksy has recreated the painting as a mural in Bristol, replacing the pearl earring with an alarm box, liedtke, Walter A. Vermeer and the Delft School. In-depth view of the Girl with a Pearl Earring An investigation into the illumination of Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring Vermeer, Girl with a Pearl Earring, ColourLex
Girl With the Pearl Earring
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Girl with a Pearl Earring
Girl With the Pearl Earring
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Mauritshuis in
The Hague in 2011
30.
Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
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Willem-Alexander is the King of the Netherlands. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht and is the oldest child of Beatrix of the Netherlands and he became Prince of Orange as heir apparent upon his mothers accession on 30 April 1980, and succeeded her following her abdication on 30 April 2013. He went to primary and secondary schools, served in the Royal Netherlands Navy. He married Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti in 2002 and they have three daughters, Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, Princess Alexia, and Princess Ariane, Willem-Alexander is interested in sports and international water management issues. At the age of 49, he is currently the second youngest monarch in Europe after Felipe VI of Spain, Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand was born on 27 April 1967 in the University Hospital Utrecht, Now is University Medical Center Utrecht in Utrecht, Netherlands. He is the first child of Princess Beatrix and Prince Claus, and he was the first male Dutch royal baby since the birth of Prince Alexander in 1851, and the first immediate male heir since Alexanders death in 1884. From birth, Willem-Alexander has held the titles Prince of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau and he was baptised as a member of the Dutch Reformed Church on 2 September 1967 in Saint Jacobs Church in The Hague. He had two brothers, Prince Friso and Prince Constantijn. He lived with his family at the castle Drakensteyn in the hamlet Lage Vuursche near Baarn from his birth until 1981 and his mother Beatrix became Queen of the Netherlands in 1980, after his grandmother Juliana abdicated. He then received the title of Prince of Orange as heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander attended Nieuwe Baarnse Elementary School in Baarn from 1973 to 1979. After his military service from 1985 to 1987, Willem-Alexander studied History at Leiden University from 1987 onwards and his final thesis was on the Dutch response to Frances decision under President Charles de Gaulle to leave the NATOs integrated command structure. Willem-Alexander speaks English, Spanish and German in addition to his native Dutch, between secondary school and his university education, Willem-Alexander performed military service in the Royal Netherlands Navy from August 1985 until January 1987. He received his training at the Royal Netherlands Naval College and the frigates HNLMS Tromp and HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, in 1988 he received additional training at the ship HNLMS Van Kinsbergen and became a lieutenant. As a reservist for the Royal Netherlands Navy, Willem-Alexander was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 1995, Commander in 1997, Captain at Sea in 2001, and Commodore in 2005. As a reservist for the Royal Netherlands Army, he was made a Major in 1995, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1997, Colonel in 2001, and Brigadier General in 2005. As a reservist for the Royal Netherlands Air Force, he was made Squadron Leader in 1995, as a reservist for the Royal Marechaussee, he was made Brigadier General in 2005. Before his investiture as king in 2013, Willem-Alexander was honorably discharged from the armed forces, the government declared that the head of state cannot be a serving member of the armed forces, since the government itself holds supreme command over the armed forces. As king, Willem-Alexander may choose to wear a uniform with royal insignia
Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
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Willem-Alexander in 2015
Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
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Prince Willem-Alexander (left) at age 14 and his brother
Constantijn in 1982
Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
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Willem-Alexander in the navy uniform of
Sub-lieutenant in 1986
Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands
–
Prince Willem-Alexander and
Princess Máxima meet
Michelle Obama, Susan Sher,
Barack Obama and
Fay Hartog-Levin at the
White House in 2009.
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