Chapter I: Front Matter

Rembrandt’s Amsterdam

Reprinted, by permission of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from “The Print-Collector’s Quarterly”

Frits Lugt

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 1915

CONTENTS

Map Key REMBRANDT’S AMSTERDAM Footnotes

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLAN OF THE CITY OF AMSTERDAM ABOUT 1650 Plate 1. View of Amsterdam from the East. _(reversed)_. After the etching by Rembrandt Plate 2. The Old Town Hall in Amsterdam. After an engraving by Cl. Jz. Visscher. Plate 3. The Ruins of the Old Town Hall in Amsterdam, after the Fire in 1652. After the drawing by Rembrandt, formerly in the Heseltine Collection, now in the Rembrandt House in Amsterdam. Plate 4. The New Town-Hall in Amsterdam, about 1660. The square building on the right is the public Weighing-House, where Rembrandt sketched the ruins of the old town-hall (see preceding illustration). After an etching by J. van der Ulft, 1656. Plate 5. The Bridge Called “Grimnessesluis” in Amsterdam. After the drawing by Rembrandt in the Louvre, Paris. Reproduced, by permission, from a copyright photograph by Messrs. Braun and Co., Dornach. Plate 6. View of the Ramparts of Amsterdam, with the St. Anthony-Gate in the Distance. After the drawing by Rembrandt, formerly in the Heseltine Collection. Plate 7. Mills on the West Side of Amsterdam, Looking Toward the Town. After the drawing by Rembrandt, formerly in the Heseltine Collection, now in a private collection in Kopenhagen. Plate 8. View of the Same Side of Town as in Plate 7, but Looking Outward. The tower on the left is the same as sketched by Rembrandt (_plate 13_). After an etching by R. Zeeman, about 1650. Plate 9. The Tower Called “Montelraanstoren” In Amsterdam After the drawing by Rembrandt, formerly in the Heseltine Collection, now in the Rembrandt House, Amsterdam Plate 10. The Same Tower as in the Preceding Illustration, with its Steeple and Surroundings. After an etching by R. Zeeman, about 1650. Plate 11. The Canal called “Singel” in Amsterdam. On the left-hand side Rembrandt’s son, Titus, lived during his short married life. In the distance, the “Janroopoortstoren”. After an etching by R. Zeeman, about 1650. Plate 12. The Tower called “Swyght-Utrecht”, and the “Doelen” in Amsterdam (see _plate 20_). After the drawing by Rembrandt in the collection of Dr. C. Hofsteded de Groot, The Hague. Plate 13. The Tower Called “Westertoren” In Amsterdam. After the drawing by Rembrandt, in the Fodor Museum, Amsterdam Plate 14. The Canal called “Prinsengracht” in Amsterdam. The tower seen on the left is the same as seen in the preceding illustration. After an etching by R. Zeeman, about 1650. Plate 15. The St. Anthony-Market in Amsterdam, with the Old Gate Transformed into a Weighing-House. After an etching by R. Zeeman, about 1650. Plate 16. Rembrandt’s House In The “St. Anthonie-breestraat” In Amsterdam On the left: As it must have looked when Rembrandt occupied it. On the right: Present state. Plate 17. The Bridge and Sluice called “St. Anthonie-sluis” in Amsterdam, seen from the North. Rembrandt’s home (_plate 16_) stood in the immediate vicinity of this spot. After the drawing by A. Waterloo, in the Fodor Museum, Amsterdam. Plate 18. The “doelenstraat” In Amsterdam (old situation) The receding building, behind the low wall with gate, on the right, is the “Doelen” for which Rembrandt painted “The Night Watch.” The house where the master lived in 1636 was next to the house seen on the extreme right. The tower seen above the roof is the one sketched by Rembrandt (_plate 12_). Compare also _plate 20_ After the drawing by R. Vinkeles in the Archives in Amsterdam Plate 19. The Back of the Houses in the “Doelenstraat” in Amsterdam. The narrow house in the middle, two windows wide, is, although rebuilt, the one where Rembrandt lived in 1636. To the left, part of Messrs. Frederk Muller & Co.’s aution and exhibition rooms. Plate 20. The Tower “Swyght-Utrecht” and the Backs of the Houses of the “Doelenstraat” in Amsterdam. The third house from the tower must be the one occupied by Rembrandt in 1636. After an engraving by van Meurs of about 1660. Plate 21. The Old Exchange in Amsterdam. After an engraving by Cl. Jz. Visscher. Plate 22. The Inn Called “de Keizers Kroon” In The Kalverstraat, Amsterdam. Here Rembrandt’s collections were sold by auction, after his bankruptcy, in 1657 and 1058. After an anonymous drawing in the Archives in Amsterdam. Plate 23. The House Of Mr. F. Banning Cocq (the Captain And Prominent Person In Rembrandt’s “Night-watch”) In Amsterdam After an anonymous drawing in the family archives of Jhr. D. de Graeff at The Hague Plate 24. The Star of the Kings. Children before a street door on Epiphany-evening. After the drawing by Rembrandt, in the British Museum, London. Salting Bequest. Plate 25. Children Refore A Street Door: The One In The Middle With A “Rommelpot”. After the drawing by Rembrandt, in the British Museum, London Plate 26. A Quacksalver on a Market-Place. After the drawing by Rembrandt. In the collection of Frederich August II, in Dresden. Plate 27. Portrait Of Jan Lutma. From an impression, in the First State, of Rembrandt’s etching, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

[Plan of the City of Amsterdam about 1650]

PLAN OF THE CITY OF AMSTERDAM ABOUT 1650

MAP KEY

[image]

Line indicating the extension of the town, started during the last ten
years of Rembrandt’s life.

1. House of the painter Pieter Lastman, the master of Rembrandt, in
the “St. Anthonie-breestraat.” In the same street was the house of
the dealer Hendrick Uylenburgh, with whom Rembrandt stayed during
the first years after his settlement in Amsterdam.
2. House in the “Doelenstraat” where Rembrandt lived in 1636 (see
plates _18_, _19_, _20_).
3. Part of the Amstel where Rembrandt seems to have lived towarda
1639.
4. House in the “St. Anthonie-breestraat” (now called
“Joden-breestraat,” No. 4) occupied and owned by Rembrandt from 1639
until 1658 (see _plate 16_). On the canal behind was the Synagogue
of his friend Menasseh-ben-Israel. The bridge and sluice seen on
_plate 17_ is the one between this red number and number 1.
5. House on the “Rosengracht” (now No. 184) where Rembrandt lived
during the last ten years of his life.
6. The “Bloemgracht” where Rembrandt is said to have used a
store-house as a studio, principally for his pupils, during his
first years in Amsterdam.
7. The place where Rembrandt’s son Titus lived, on the “Singel,”
opposite the apple-market, in 1668, during his short married life
(see _plate 11_).
8. House on the “Keizersgracht” (now No. 208) of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp,
the principal person in Rembrandt’s painting _The Anatomical
Lesson._ Next to him lived Dr. Aernout Tholinx, whose portrait was
etched and painted by Rembrandt.
9. House on the “Singel” (now Nos. 140-142) of Mr. F. Banning Cocq,
the Captain in Rembrandt’s masterwork, _The Night-watch_ (see _plate
23_).
10. House on the “Kloveniersburgwal” (now No. 47) in which
apparently lived Mr. Jan Six, a well-known and influential person in
Rembrandt’s life, whose painted and etched portraits count among
Rembrandt’s finest productions.
11. House in the “Kalverstraat” (now No. 10) of the print-dealer and
publisher Clement de Jonghe whose portrait Rembrandt etched.
12. The old St. Anthony-gate, in Rembrandt’s days Public
Weighing-House, and, on the first floor, the seat of the Surgeon’s
Guild, of which Dr. Tulp and Dr. Deyman were the foremen.
13. The “Doelen,” meeting-place of the Civic Guard, for which
Rembrandt’s _Nightwatch_ was painted. At its side the tower,
Swyght-Utrecht (see _plates 18_,_19_,_20_).
14. The Staalhof, the office for which Rembrandt executed his
celebrated picture known as _The Syndics._
15. The inn called De Keizers Kroon in the Kalverstraat (now No. 71)
where Rembrandt’s collections were sold at auction, after his
bankruptcy, in 1657 and 1658 (see _plate 22_).
16. The Dam, with the town-hall on the right and the Public
Weighing-House in the middle (see plates _2_,_3_,_4_).
17. The bridge called Grimnessesluis (see _plate 5_).
18. The St. Anthony-gate (see _plate 6_) at the end of the street
where Rembrandt lived.
19. The spot where Rembrandt has apparently sketched the mills and
the views of the town (see _plate 7_).
20. The tower called Montelbaanstoren (see plates _9_ and _10_) and
the bridge from which Rembrandt sketched it.
21. The bridge called “Leliebrug,” from which Rembrandt sketched the
tower of the church called _Westerkerk_. This church, on the map,
is between the bridge and the house numbered 8. (See _plate 13_.)
In this church Rembrandt was buried.
22. About this spot Rembrandt must have found the subject for his
etching _View of Amsterdam_ (see Frontispiece, _plate 1_). When this
etching was executed, the tongue of land, near there, with the two
bastions, did not yet exist.
23. Bridge called Blaubrug (Blue Bridge) where Rembrandt sketched
the perspective along the Amstel river.
24. Houses on the “Singel” (now Nos. 234-236) where the caligrapher
Lieven Willemsz. Coppenal, an intimate friend of Rembrandt, had his
school, and probably lived.
25. House on the “Keizersgracht” (stated as the second house from
the “Beerenstraat”), where the painter Johan van de Cappelle, a
friend and fervent admirer of Rembrandt, lived until 1663.
26. House in the “Koestraat” (now No. 15), where the same painter
lived after 1663. This house, until then, had been inhabited by the
celebrated musician Sweelinck and his descendants.
27. House on the “Lauriergracht” (probably between the first and
second bridge) where Rembrandt’s pupil Govert Flinck lived from
1644, until his death in 1660. Ten years earlier he was staying in
the house of the dealer Hendrick Uylenburgh (see above) where
Rembrandt then also lived.

To locate the houses of some others of Rembrandt’s artist-friends and pupils is more difficult: Ferdinand Bol lived, in Rembrandt’s time, on the "Fluweele burgwal" (i.e., on the map, the left-hand side of the canal numbered 28), and afterwards in the new extension on the "Keizersgracht" near the "Spiegelstraat." So did Gerbrand van den Eeckfwut, who died on the "Heeren-gracht" near the " Viyselstraat." Philips Koninck lived, in Rembrandt’s time, on the "Keizersgracht," the same canal where we found Tulp and van de Cappelle.

REMBRANDT’S AMSTERDAM

By Frits Lugt